Social Prescribing

Introduction

By connecting individuals to community-based, non-clinical support, Social Prescribing finds innovative ways to address health related social needs, such as social isolation, unemployment, and housing and food instability. By “co-producing a social prescription” (Muhl, 2023), social prescribing aims to improve health and well-being while strengthening community connections.

Now implemented in over 40 countries worldwide, social prescribing programs vary widely in design, delivery, and context. Despite their rapid expansion and policy relevance, there remains limited systematic evidence on whether these programs represent good value for money for individuals, health systems, and society.

This project addresses this gap through a systematic review of the global economic evidence on social prescribing programs, synthesizing findings across peer-reviewed and grey literature to inform research, practice, and policy.

Scope

This review focuses on social prescribing programs that meet the following core criteria:

• Condition 1: Identifier identifies that person has non-medical, health-related social needs (e.g., issues with housing, food, employment, income, social support)

And one of:

• Condition 2: Identifier connects person to non-clinical supports and services within the community by co-producing a non-medical prescription
• Condition 3: Identifier refers person to a connector
• Condition 4: Connector connects person to non-clinical supports and services within the community by co-producing a non-medical prescription

This systematic review aims to:

• Synthesize global evidence on the economic impacts of social prescribing programs
  Assess the quality of peer-reviewed and grey literature in this field
• Examine how economic studies vary across:
  • Types of economic evaluations (e.g., cost-effectiveness, cost-utility, cost-benefit, social return on investment)
  • Study designs (e.g., RCTs, quasi-experimental studies, observational studies, case studies)
  • Intervention characteristics (e.g., duration, population, follow-up length)
  • Contextual factors (e.g., primary care vs. community settings, country and health system context)

Insights and Deliverables

By integrating evidence across diverse study designs and economic methodologies, this review seeks to generate a comprehensive picture of how social prescribing programs create—or fail to create—economic value.

By achieving the outlined objectives, this review aims to answer the question: What are the economic impacts of social prescribing programs, and what are the characteristics of interventions associated with the greatest economic benefits?

Insights will support more informed decision-making by policymakers, health and social care providers, and community organisations considering investment in social prescribing initiatives.

Along with producing a systematic review, the overall aims are

1. to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current health economics evidence on social prescribing
2. to inform decision makers in the settings of health and social care, community outreach, and policy 
3. to make recommendations for future research

Project Team

Led by Prof. Daisy Fancourt (University College London, JA&HL), Dr. Nisha Sajnani (NYU Steinhardt, JA&HL), Dr. Jill Sonke (University of Florida, JA&HL) and researchers from the UF Center for Arts in Medicine; and Health Science Center Libraries, the University of Manchester, and the Yorkshire and Humber School of Public Health.

Funding and Support

This review is supported by the National Academy for Social Prescribing.