Social prescribing

In principle a great idea, I like the holistic approach to improving mental and physical health outcomes.

However some reservations: where would the funding come from? Our mental health services have been irreparably damaged from funding cuts and diverting resources to prevention is great but mental health services need more investment.

For me this idea is essentially about building networks of information about already existing community resources and connecting people with them. How can we use tech to aid this and keep costs lower? Massive opportunity to map what is there and connect services with users.

I'd be interested to see data on non-attendance and how that might be tackled as this is a risk I identify.

This is a brilliant concept! I was involved with this a few years ago when it was just starting out, and the debt advice charity I volunteered with was used to refer people with financial stress. However it doesn't work in isolation, as some people need wholistic support. So it will be useful for charities / referal agencies to collaborate with other local agencies.

I love the idea of community support, as this is so lacking in London and results in so much loniliness and other struggles. This is a good place to start.

It's brilliant! As a young medical student I can personally attest to the magic that social prescribing can bring - we have chronic lonliness and community fragmentation --> social prescribing finally addresses this public health and HUMAN crisis!

This is a brilliant idea and is just a shame that so many people seem to be unable to find these activities/solutions for themselves. Hopefully it will be that small community groups receive funding to help them provide these services. Just as long as this is not supposed to be an alternative to the health service providing the mental health services that people need 

I recall speaking to,people about the concept of what is now referred to as SP back in the late 1990s. The idea, in today’s market, can be cheaply delivered. A couple of years ago in my area we had a Beat the Streets initiative which got people out walking; a chance to meet people (combating isolation and loneliness) whilst getting essential exercise. Certainly my local Council and NHS services have for some time have promoted many opportunities which can be classified as social prescribing. 

I haven't heard of it as a concept but I feel it's what I've been involved in by proxy

This is a good idea but, for those who seek it out, Bexley has been helping for years especially with loneliness. Libraries in the borough are warm and have groups which anyone can join such as sewing, scrabble, conversation and generally the libraries are close to public transport. There is Dial a Ride for the less able to reach places like that and if you are a library member access to the internet is free.

For older people with Freedom Passes the buses are great to travel on as well as trains ( after 9.30a.m.). Once you reach the edge of London you can use non London buses after 9.30a.m. too. I can recommend a bus (431) from Orpington High Street to Sevenoaks. It is a non London bus and limited service but if you catch the 10.30 bus it arrives to Sevenoaks by 11.45a.m. and as long as you plan your return the 13.30 bus will take you back to Orpington. It's a lovely ride in the country and you can stroll round Sevenoaks and even visit Knole park. Just remember to check the return time. There are more buses than I have suggested but those times work for us. 

Look to see if you have parks to visit if you are mobile. Having said that, Footscray Meadows has a tarmac path so a wheelchair could use it. Just get out if you are able and you will find that there are people to talk to even if you just smile and say 'Hello'. Or perhaps 'It's a lovely day'.

Also, don't forget that there are many free museums to visit. Have a go and get out there if you can.

I'm not a health profressional, but I've seen evidence where social prescribing works well in numerous cases (plenty from London, Sussex, and new models in Manchester, Scotland). I have spoken with GPs who find this non-medical wellbeing support invaluable for their patients - many of whom are housebound, frail, have dementia, trauma, or are in end of life care.

When it works, it builds the patient's knowledge, confidence, and commitment to look after their own health and wellbeing more effectively, plus access new networks of people and support in their communities. This has reduced the need to visit GPs as frequently, and can have a preventive outcome for A & E and hospital episodes. And even where a patient is terminally ill and on SP, they still value the service as meaningful and deeply worthwhile for them. I'm not sure whether it matters whether its a lefty idea or not? 

SP is not a magic bullet, there are many diverse services, and not all of them are effective (just like hospitals and GP clinics) - but it will be a powerful, innovative weapon in our collective arsenal when tackling an ageing population and dual pressures of dementia and diabetes.

I think it makes sense if the current funding pays for services that tap into extra care capacity that is already there, which frontline health professionals don't have, on wellbeing issues they aren't necessarily even trained in, but many VCS groups are accredited to provide.

Key challenges include ensuring quality standards don't slip, and contract collaborations are managed well between health, social care, and VCS groups. Medication doesn't alway work, and yet individuals can respond differently to a range of alternative tested interventions in a sustainable way - all the better if it brings together communities and reduces stigma. 

My question is about financing it. It's brilliant to direct patient for social activities but do NHS pay for those activities? How often will it be misused? For example, someone wants to learn art, goes to GP and gets art classes for free. Is it how it works in reality?

I believe that social prescribing should include a way to help us better understand how our social system works.

To meet this end i have written and seen published a book on macroeconomics. (Write to me at [email protected] for a free e-copy of this 310 page "Consequential Macroeconomics", and find out how the confusion currently being taught in universities can be eliminated.)

This important knowledge is presented in a way that will allow students, teachers and researchers to examine the effect of making a single change on what is taken as being a stable system that is in equilibrium. These assumptions allow one to investigate it--if we were to represent all of the variations at once, the present state of confusion would still be there. Policy changes can thus be examined as if each was independent, although in practice many things do change simultaneously.

never heard of it, but i think it is a great idea for those who are isolated and lonely

It sounds like a great idea. Perhaps you could also prescribe places/ people where volunteers/ the fit retired could help out.

I have heard of Social Prescribing. So have the 6% of Londoners who told a recent YouGov survey, for the London National Park City movement, that they have experienced social prescribing.

It helps people with both physical and mentail conditions. The GP's who agreed to trial it have welcomed the positive impacts and are prescribing less medicine. 

Beth Collier is a nature based Psychtherapist who established the Nature Therapy School in 2015 and runs sessions in the SE24 area of London. She is one of many people now proving that we can boost our health by being more active outdoors or engaging with others in our communities. With more people now living in urban environments rather than rural ones, the importance of good quality, accesible green space has never been higher. The good news is that the more we create, the healthier and happier our populations become.

Bring on more social prescribing; to help make London greener, healthier and wilder.

The more you read about it, the more it makes sense. It's about people supporting each other & sharing their expertise & skills. Surely, that's that's what living in a community is all about.

I developed the My Guide service for Guide Dogs, which was part of the trial of social prescribing in Rotherham in 2015. It was hugely successful, reducing depression and increasing fitness amongst people with sight loss by matching them with a trained volunteer who helped them to get out and about to do the things that they wanted to do.

The volunteers also reported increased feelings of well being and involvement.

However, it must be remembered that there are costs involved in running voluntary schemes like this (training, safeguarding and ongoing support for both volunteers and service users). This isn't just a way of saving money. We could only run the scheme in Rotherham because of People's Postcode Lottery funding

I haven't sounds read it all but it sounds like a good idea.

Tackling loneliness, especially those in retirement years, is key to people's mental health.

A few examples of what is already being done is walking football, to tackle fitness, and singing for those with asthma, which helps your breathing.

Will be interested in seeing how this progresses.

I think it's a wonderful idea and I hope it will take off.

I've begun to see social prescribing across LB Redbridge and it looks very promising