Building common understanding: seeking consensus and defining social prescribing across contexts - a collective commentary on a Delphi study

Caitlin Muhl¹, Kate Mulligan^{2

3}, Bogdan Chiva Giurca^{4

5}, Marie J Polley⁶, Gary Bloch^{7

8}, Dominik Alex Nowak^{9

8}, Charlotte Osborn-Forde⁵, Sonia Hsiung¹⁰, Kheng Hock Lee^{11

12}, Wolfram J Herrmann¹³, James Robert Baker^{14

15}, Dame Helen Jayne Stokes-Lampard¹⁶, Sir Sam Everington¹⁷, Michael Dixon¹⁸, Isabelle Wachsmuth¹⁹, Cristiano Figueiredo^{20

21}, Halfdan Thorsø Skjerning²², Daniela Rojatz²³, Yu-Da Chen^{24

25}, Miriam L Heijnders²⁶, Carolyn Wallace²⁷, Michelle Howarth²⁸, Daisuke Watanabe²⁹, Marcello Bertotti³⁰, Anu Helena Jansson³¹, Susanna Althini^{32

33

34}, Felix Holzinger¹³, Darren Glyn Dooler³⁵, Siân Brand^{36

37}, Tim James Anfilogoff^{36

38}, Daisy Fancourt³⁹, Michelle L A Nelson^{40

41}, Stephanie Tierney⁴², Alison Leitch⁴³, Hae-Kweun Nam⁴⁴, Kiffer G Card⁴⁵, Daniel Hayes³⁹, Siân Slade⁴⁶, Marie Anne Essam⁴⁷, Gay Anthia Palmer⁴⁸, Vivian Andrea Welch^{49

50}, David Robinson^{51

52}, Laurie Hilsgen⁵³, Niall Taylor⁵⁴, Rasmus Østergaard Nielsen^{22

55}, Dragana Vidovic⁵⁶, Emer Maeve McDaid⁵⁷, Louíse Viecili Hoffmeister²⁰, Jill Bonehill⁵⁸, Alan Siegel^{59

60}, Alžběta Bártová^{61

62}, David Acurio-Páez⁶³, Juan Manuel Mendive⁶⁴, Kerryn Husk⁶⁵

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen's University, 99 University Ave, Kingston, ON, Canada. caitlin.muhl@queensu.ca.
² Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. kate.mulligan@utoronto.ca.
³ Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing, Canadian Red Cross, Toronto, ON, Canada. kate.mulligan@utoronto.ca.
⁴ Arts and Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
⁵ National Academy for Social Prescribing, London, UK.
⁶ Meaningful Measures Ltd, Bristol, UK.
⁷ Department of Family and Community Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁸ Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁹ Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁰ Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing, Canadian Red Cross, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹¹ Office of Education and Community Partnerships, SingHealth Community Hospitals, Singapore, Singapore.
¹² Family Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.
¹³ Institute of General Practice and Family Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
¹⁴ Australian Social Prescribing Institute of Research and Education (ASPIRE), Surry Hills, NSW, Australia.
¹⁵ Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia.
¹⁶ College of Medicine and Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, West Midlands, UK.
¹⁷ Bromley By Bow Health Centre, London, UK.
¹⁸ College of Medicine, London, UK.
¹⁹ Integrated Health Services, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
²⁰ Public Health Research Centre, Comprehensive Health Research Centre, NOVA National School of Public Health, NOVA University Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
²¹ Unidade de Saúde Familiar da Baixa, Unidade Local de Saúde São José, Lisbon, Portugal.
²² Research Unit for General Practice, Aarhus, Denmark.
²³ Competence Centre for Health Promotion and Healthcare, Austrian National Public Health Institute, Vienna, Austria.
²⁴ Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
²⁵ Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
²⁶ Landelijk Kennisnetwerk Welzijn Op Recept, Nieuwegein, Netherlands.
²⁷ Wales School for Social Prescribing Research (WSSPR), University of South Wales, Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, UK.
²⁸ Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire, UK.
²⁹ Faculty of Humanities, Seikei University, Musashino, Tokyo, Japan.
³⁰ Institute for Connected Communities, University of East London, London, UK.
³¹ Finnish Association for the Welfare of Older Adults, Helsinki, Finland.
³² General Practice, Visby, Gotland, Sweden.
³³ Primary Care Management, Health and Medical Care Administration, Region of Gotland, Visby, Sweden.
³⁴ Primary Care Management, Health and Medical Care Administration, Region of Kalmar, Högsby, Sweden.
³⁵ South West Yorkshire NHS Partnership Foundation Trust, Wakefield, UK.
³⁶ Social Prescribing Network, London, UK.
³⁷ Sport and Health, Writtle University College, Chelmsford, Essex, UK.
³⁸ Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board, Hertfordshire and West Essex, Hertfordshire, UK.
³⁹ Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, UK.
⁴⁰ Science of Care, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴¹ Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴² Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK.
⁴³ Scottish Social Prescribing Network, Edinburgh, UK.
⁴⁴ Department of Preventive Medicine, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Gangwon State, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
⁴⁵ Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
⁴⁶ Nossal Institute for Global Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁴⁷ General Practice, Watford, Hertfordshire, UK.
⁴⁸ Improving Health Limited, London, UK.
⁴⁹ Bruyere Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁵⁰ School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁵¹ Medical Gerontology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
⁵² Mercer's Institute for Successful Ageing, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
⁵³ Carers New Zealand - NZ Carers Alliance, Auckland, New Zealand.
⁵⁴ Scottish Government, Population Health Directorate, Edinburgh, UK.
⁵⁵ Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
⁵⁶ Department of Government, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, UK.
⁵⁷ SPRING Social Prescribing, Derry, UK.
⁵⁸ Citizens Advice Solihull Borough, Solihull, UK.
⁵⁹ Social Prescribing USA, San Francisco, CA, USA.
⁶⁰ Adult and Family Medicine, Kaiser Oakland, Oakland, CA, USA.
⁶¹ Department of Psychosocial Sciences and Ethics, Hussite Theological Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
⁶² Centre of Longevity and Long-Term Care (CELLO), Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
⁶³ Facultad Ciencias Médicas, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador.
⁶⁴ La Mina Primary Health Care Academic Centre, Catalan Institute of Health, Sant Adrià de Besòs, Barcelona, Spain.
⁶⁵ Faculty of Health, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK.

PMID: 39449029
PMCID: PMC11515304
DOI: 10.1186/s12913-024-11603-x

Building common understanding: seeking consensus and defining social prescribing across contexts - a collective commentary on a Delphi study

Caitlin Muhl et al. BMC Health Serv Res. 2024.

. 2024 Oct 24;24(1):1280.

doi: 10.1186/s12913-024-11603-x.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen's University, 99 University Ave, Kingston, ON, Canada. caitlin.muhl@queensu.ca.
² Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. kate.mulligan@utoronto.ca.
³ Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing, Canadian Red Cross, Toronto, ON, Canada. kate.mulligan@utoronto.ca.
⁴ Arts and Sciences, University College London, London, UK.
⁵ National Academy for Social Prescribing, London, UK.
⁶ Meaningful Measures Ltd, Bristol, UK.
⁷ Department of Family and Community Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁸ Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁹ Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹⁰ Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing, Canadian Red Cross, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹¹ Office of Education and Community Partnerships, SingHealth Community Hospitals, Singapore, Singapore.
¹² Family Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.
¹³ Institute of General Practice and Family Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
¹⁴ Australian Social Prescribing Institute of Research and Education (ASPIRE), Surry Hills, NSW, Australia.
¹⁵ Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia.
¹⁶ College of Medicine and Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, West Midlands, UK.
¹⁷ Bromley By Bow Health Centre, London, UK.
¹⁸ College of Medicine, London, UK.
¹⁹ Integrated Health Services, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
²⁰ Public Health Research Centre, Comprehensive Health Research Centre, NOVA National School of Public Health, NOVA University Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
²¹ Unidade de Saúde Familiar da Baixa, Unidade Local de Saúde São José, Lisbon, Portugal.
²² Research Unit for General Practice, Aarhus, Denmark.
²³ Competence Centre for Health Promotion and Healthcare, Austrian National Public Health Institute, Vienna, Austria.
²⁴ Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
²⁵ Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
²⁶ Landelijk Kennisnetwerk Welzijn Op Recept, Nieuwegein, Netherlands.
²⁷ Wales School for Social Prescribing Research (WSSPR), University of South Wales, Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, UK.
²⁸ Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire, UK.
²⁹ Faculty of Humanities, Seikei University, Musashino, Tokyo, Japan.
³⁰ Institute for Connected Communities, University of East London, London, UK.
³¹ Finnish Association for the Welfare of Older Adults, Helsinki, Finland.
³² General Practice, Visby, Gotland, Sweden.
³³ Primary Care Management, Health and Medical Care Administration, Region of Gotland, Visby, Sweden.
³⁴ Primary Care Management, Health and Medical Care Administration, Region of Kalmar, Högsby, Sweden.
³⁵ South West Yorkshire NHS Partnership Foundation Trust, Wakefield, UK.
³⁶ Social Prescribing Network, London, UK.
³⁷ Sport and Health, Writtle University College, Chelmsford, Essex, UK.
³⁸ Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board, Hertfordshire and West Essex, Hertfordshire, UK.
³⁹ Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, UK.
⁴⁰ Science of Care, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴¹ Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴² Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK.
⁴³ Scottish Social Prescribing Network, Edinburgh, UK.
⁴⁴ Department of Preventive Medicine, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Gangwon State, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
⁴⁵ Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
⁴⁶ Nossal Institute for Global Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁴⁷ General Practice, Watford, Hertfordshire, UK.
⁴⁸ Improving Health Limited, London, UK.
⁴⁹ Bruyere Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁵⁰ School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁵¹ Medical Gerontology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
⁵² Mercer's Institute for Successful Ageing, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
⁵³ Carers New Zealand - NZ Carers Alliance, Auckland, New Zealand.
⁵⁴ Scottish Government, Population Health Directorate, Edinburgh, UK.
⁵⁵ Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
⁵⁶ Department of Government, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, UK.
⁵⁷ SPRING Social Prescribing, Derry, UK.
⁵⁸ Citizens Advice Solihull Borough, Solihull, UK.
⁵⁹ Social Prescribing USA, San Francisco, CA, USA.
⁶⁰ Adult and Family Medicine, Kaiser Oakland, Oakland, CA, USA.
⁶¹ Department of Psychosocial Sciences and Ethics, Hussite Theological Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
⁶² Centre of Longevity and Long-Term Care (CELLO), Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
⁶³ Facultad Ciencias Médicas, Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador.
⁶⁴ La Mina Primary Health Care Academic Centre, Catalan Institute of Health, Sant Adrià de Besòs, Barcelona, Spain.
⁶⁵ Faculty of Health, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK.

PMID: 39449029
PMCID: PMC11515304
DOI: 10.1186/s12913-024-11603-x

Abstract

Social prescribing has become a global phenomenon. A Delphi study was recently conducted with 48 social prescribing experts from 26 countries to establish global agreement on the definition of social prescribing. We reflect on the use and utility of the outputs of this work, and where we go from here.

Keywords: Commentary, Global definition, Social prescribing.

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Conflict of interest statement

CM and KM are the lead authors on the Delphi study that this commentary relates to. All other authors are involved in social prescribing research or practice in their respective locations and so have been part of, been funded, or supported by organisations that seek to promote the practice and evidence relating to social prescribing.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Common Understanding of Social Prescribing (CUSP) conceptual framework. Reproduced from Muhl C, Mulligan K, Bayoumi I, et al. Establishing internationally accepted conceptual and operational definitions of social prescribing through expert consensus: a Delphi study. *BMJ Open* 2023;13:e070184. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-070184, with permission from BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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1. World Health Organization. Climate change and health [online]. 2023. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health (Accessed 8 Sept 2023).
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Building common understanding: seeking consensus and defining social prescribing across contexts - a collective commentary on a Delphi study

Affiliations

Building common understanding: seeking consensus and defining social prescribing across contexts - a collective commentary on a Delphi study

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources