Social prescribing is an approach that aims to improve health and well-being. It connects individuals to non-clinical services and supports that address social needs, such as those related to loneliness, housing instability and mental health. At the person level, social prescribing can give individuals the knowledge, skills, motivation and confidence to manage their own health and well-being. At the society level, it can facilitate greater collaboration across health, social, and community sectors to promote integrated care and move beyond the traditional biomedical model of health. While the term social prescribing was first popularised in the UK, this practice has become more prevalent and widely publicised internationally over the last decade. This paper aims to illuminate the ways social prescribing has been conceptualised and implemented across 17 countries in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. We draw from the ‘Beyond the Building Blocks’ framework to describe the essential inputs for adopting social prescribing into policy and practice, related to service delivery; social determinants and household production of health; workforce; leadership and governance; financing, community organisations and societal partnerships; health technology; and information, learning and accountability. Cross-cutting lessons can inform country and regional efforts to tailor social prescribing models to best support local needs.

The trends in modern undergraduate medical education focus on a patient-centred approach through problem-based learning over the traditional modular curriculum. Integrating pathology into this style of learning has resulted in the dilution of core scientific principles which may have contributed to reduced understanding and interest in the subject. We aim to innovate pathology education by utilising National Pathology Week which is organised by the Royal College of Pathologists to develop the public engagement model which empowers students to learn pathology by teaching the public. Through this model, we hope to generate a greater interest in pathology at both undergraduate and postgraduate stages of education. We obtained funding from the Royal College of Pathologists to organise National Pathology Week at Exeter Medical School and the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital. We involved 125 undergraduate student volunteers from health-related courses. We designed a curriculum aiming to educate both students and public on current topics such as cancer screening programmes, antibiotic resistance, diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease and the role of pathologists. We hosted 15 pathologists, biomedical scientists and microbiologists to engage with students, share experiences and offer an insight into their careers. Through this project, we interacted with over 500 members of the public and 150 school students. The medical student volunteers developed a range of skills including competent use of microscopes to visualise pathology slides, effective communication with lay audiences to teach pathology and understanding of the clinical application of pathology. We believe the public engagement model of teaching undergraduate students has the potential to develop a greater interest in pathology whilst benefitting the wider community.

With the rising global burden of cancer, healthcare professionals will inevitably be involved directly or indirectly in the care of cancer patients. Although medical education has recently evolved to emphasise the biopsychosocial model, current training regarding difficult communication skills and breaking bad news remains inadequate. Our aim was to utilise a novel method of teaching communication skills through public engagement. This was achieved by setting up a local network of cancer patients who were willing to share their stories to aid student learning. A group of medical students from years one to four interviewed a total of 48 cancer patients about their illness experiences. Student reflections were collated, producing three common themes: (1) knowing what to say, (2) seeing the person in the patient, and (3) understanding the consequences of poor communication. The experiences allowed students to develop their communication skills, learn from patient experiences, and reflect on their future practice. Patient stories, including art, drawings, and poems, were collated in the form of a book and disseminated to promote further learning. We hope our reflections and public engagement initiative will identify key areas of difficult communication, enhance learning, and prepare students for meaningful and often difficult conversation in cancer care. Similar principles could be used in other areas of medical education to allow students to develop safe and effective interpersonal skills.

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