Guest Editorial: Social Prescribing

摘要

The latest hot topic is Social Prescribing but what is it and how should it function? Social prescribing in primary care involves health professionals referring patients to non-clinical forms of intervention, with the intention of enhancing the patient's health and wellbeing (Polley et al 2017). You may question whether community nurses have been referring and introducing their patients to community groups already, so is this really innovative or are general practitioners just realising the benefits of these type of referrals? Is it just the formalising of 'social prescribing' by giving permission to healthcare professionals to refer their patients to groups within their communities that is new? Social prescribing is based on the assumption that not all patients' needs require treatment with drugs or other medical interventions but there is recognition that a patient would benefit if their social, emotional and practical needs were met. Therefore if social prescription is practised well, not only will the individual benefit, it is assumed costs within national health systems will be reduced. For example, costs may be avoided if mental health patients avoid the use of anti-depressant drugs or engagement with psychotherapists (Morton et al 2014). Such referrals may even improve the health and wellbeing of the primary care team members by freeing up their capacity to see more patients that may benefit from medical interventions.