Social prescribing or community referral? Either way, let's do it!
Dear Editor,
Let’s not get caught up in the terminology “prescribing,” although perhaps the expression “community referral” may be more appropriate in some cases (Napierala et al., 2022). As a clinical pharmacist who has studied and researched health promotion, including community initiatives such as parkrun (Dunne et al., 2024), I would like to apply a health promotion lens rather than the traditional bio-medical model to this issue.
One of the tenets of health promotion is “re-orienting the health services” (WHO, 1986). An important part of this re-orientation is developing and using community initiatives to promote physical and mental health and wellbeing. In my experience, the parkrun practice initiative is so much more than just “prescribing parkrun”. It allows healthcare professionals to model healthy behaviour by attending parkrun themselves. It may also involve referring patients to community initiatives that they may not be aware of and supporting patients who may need that little bit of extra help to attend activities that are available in the local community. Not forgetting that referral may include suggesting that patients can volunteer at parkrun, which has health benefits in it’s own right (Haake et al., 2022).
Whether we refer patients to parkrun, a community choir, gardening group or book club; as healthcare professionals we should look beyond the traditional prescribing model and do whatever we can to support the health and wellbeing of our patients and community members, regardless of what label we use to describe that process.
Dunne, A., Quirk, H., Bullas, A., & Haake, S. (2024). 'My parkrun friends.' A qualitative study of social experiences of men at parkrun in Ireland. Health promotion international, 39(3). https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daae045
Haake, S., Quirk, H., & Bullas, A. (2022). The health benefits of volunteering at a free, weekly, 5 km event in the UK: A cross-sectional study of volunteers at parkrun. PLOS global public health, 2(2), e0000138. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0000138
Napierala, H., Krüger, K., Kuschick, D., Heintze, C., Herrmann, W. J., & Holzinger, F. (2022). Social Prescribing: Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Psychosocial Community Referral Interventions in Primary Care. International journal of integrated care, 22(3), 11. https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.6472
WHO. (1986). Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, World Health Organization, Geneva.
Rapid Response:
Social prescribing or community referral? Either way, let's do it!
Dear Editor,
Let’s not get caught up in the terminology “prescribing,” although perhaps the expression “community referral” may be more appropriate in some cases (Napierala et al., 2022). As a clinical pharmacist who has studied and researched health promotion, including community initiatives such as parkrun (Dunne et al., 2024), I would like to apply a health promotion lens rather than the traditional bio-medical model to this issue.
One of the tenets of health promotion is “re-orienting the health services” (WHO, 1986). An important part of this re-orientation is developing and using community initiatives to promote physical and mental health and wellbeing. In my experience, the parkrun practice initiative is so much more than just “prescribing parkrun”. It allows healthcare professionals to model healthy behaviour by attending parkrun themselves. It may also involve referring patients to community initiatives that they may not be aware of and supporting patients who may need that little bit of extra help to attend activities that are available in the local community. Not forgetting that referral may include suggesting that patients can volunteer at parkrun, which has health benefits in it’s own right (Haake et al., 2022).
Whether we refer patients to parkrun, a community choir, gardening group or book club; as healthcare professionals we should look beyond the traditional prescribing model and do whatever we can to support the health and wellbeing of our patients and community members, regardless of what label we use to describe that process.
Dunne, A., Quirk, H., Bullas, A., & Haake, S. (2024). 'My parkrun friends.' A qualitative study of social experiences of men at parkrun in Ireland. Health promotion international, 39(3). https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daae045
Haake, S., Quirk, H., & Bullas, A. (2022). The health benefits of volunteering at a free, weekly, 5 km event in the UK: A cross-sectional study of volunteers at parkrun. PLOS global public health, 2(2), e0000138. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0000138
Napierala, H., Krüger, K., Kuschick, D., Heintze, C., Herrmann, W. J., & Holzinger, F. (2022). Social Prescribing: Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Psychosocial Community Referral Interventions in Primary Care. International journal of integrated care, 22(3), 11. https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.6472
WHO. (1986). Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, World Health Organization, Geneva.
Competing interests: No competing interests