Exploring the acceptability of a social prescribing service: voices of stakeholders

Abstract

Social prescribing is being widely advocated as a tool to help address complex health and social issues in primary care. It seeks to address patients' needs in a holistic way and empower individuals to take greater control of their health through connection with community-based activities. Social prescribing is a key component of the NHS Long Term Plan (NHS England, 2019) and one of the ten high impact actions to release time for care in the General Practice Forward View (NHS England, 2016). A concomitant evidence base is required to support continued interest and innovation in social prescribing. It is increasingly acknowledged that acceptability should be considered when designing and implementing a healthcare intervention. Acceptability is a critical condition for the effectiveness of a healthcare intervention (Sekhon et al., 2017). There is little literature regarding the acceptability of social prescribing. In this study, I explored the acceptability of the SPRING social prescribing service to service users and providers. This was a qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with stakeholders of the service. Employing Sekhon’s theoretical framework of acceptability, allowed acceptability to be assessed as a multifaceted construct. Deductive thematic analysis was carried out on data. Through hearing the voices of these individuals, I have added specifically to the evidence regarding service user, link worker and healthcare professional perspectives on social prescribing. Findings support evidence regarding the outcomes of social prescribing and how social prescribing fits with the principles of holistic care. Necessary steps and challenges in the path towards positive implementation and delivery of a social prescribing service have been identified. Results raise important points for reflection on social prescribing in relation to the person, health and social care systems, and the community.

Date of Award	Dec 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Supervisor	Helen Reid (Supervisor) & Diarmuid O'Donovan (Supervisor)