Social prescribing as an intervention for people with work-related injuries and psychosocial difficulties in Australia

Abstract

Psychosocial interventions that encourage optimism and connectedness can promote workplace injury recovery and improve wellbeing. A mixed-methods evaluation of a twelve-week program for injured workers in Sydney, Australia, explored three research questions: if a social prescribing approach contributed to (1) increased social and economic participation, (2) improved psychological functioning and quality of life, and (3) decreased health service utilisation. Retrospective analysis of pre-and post-intervention data was undertaken, involving quantitative indicators of social, economic, and health status using validated psychosocial assessment tools (n = 175). These findings were augmented with data from the insurance regulator (n = 177) and insights from link worker documentation of participant activity (n = 178), a program satisfaction survey (n = 167), and participant interviews (n = 44). The social prescribing program was associated with significant improvements in frequency and confidence in participating in social activities and returning to work, in all measures of biopsychosocial wellbeing, and in reducing health service use. Qualitative information identified a range of personal improvements, including greater self-awareness, social connections, and ability to cope with the effects of injury and employment loss. This is the first known Australian study to evaluate a social prescribing intervention for psychosocial rehabilitation for injured workers in Australia. These findings suggest that a social prescribing approach is effective, but further consideration of barriers, including workplace characteristics and procedural difficulties in accessing occupational rehabilitation services, is needed.

Let Nature Be Thy Medicine: A Socioecological Exploration of Green Prescribing in the UK

“…Green prescribing builds on the earlier concept of prescribing exercise and diet-based interventions [27]-a variant that was pioneered by general practitioners (GPs) in New Zealand in the 1990s [28]. It also builds on the recent social prescribing movement, which can be defined as: "a way of linking patients in primary care with sources of support within the community-usually provided by the voluntary and community sector, offering GPs a non-medical referral option that can operate alongside existing treatments to improve health and well-being", [29] (p. 7) [30,31].…”

Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomised Trial of Social Prescribing of Forest Therapy for Quality of Life and Biopsychosocial Wellbeing in Community-Living Australian Adults with Mental Illness: Protocol

“…The study aims to recruit 140 adults with ongoing mental illness (mood and psychotic disorders), living in the community at the Gold Coast (expected n = 45) and in Sydney (expected n = 95). Participants will be care-coordination clients of PCCS, an NGO that has previously developed and implemented SP programs in Australia [33,34]. PCCS has a steady flow of new care-coordination clients (who are referred by their GP) and these will form the recruitment pool.…”

“…However, Australia's first holistic SP programs for individuals with mental illness and disabilities have only been active since 2016, primarily implemented by NGO Primary and Community Services (PCCS) [33,34]. These ongoing programs offer care-coordination and community referral to local public, private, and community-run health and welfare services, in addition to internal and external social activities (e.g., art classes, coffee groups).…”

“…These ongoing programs offer care-coordination and community referral to local public, private, and community-run health and welfare services, in addition to internal and external social activities (e.g., art classes, coffee groups). Participants in these programs have demonstrated improvements in QoL and self-assessed health status [34], biopsychosocial wellbeing, reduced health service use, and frequency and confidence in participating in social activities [33].…”

A controlled evaluation of the effect of social prescribing programs on loneliness for adults in Queensland, Australia (protocol)

“…Well-known models of social prescribing include ‘arts on prescription’ [ 16 ], ‘education on prescription’ [ 17 ], and ‘exercise on prescription’ [ 18 ]. A randomised controlled trial [ 19 ], single arm trials [ 20 – 23 ], and a systematic review [ 24 ] have found that social prescribing programs can be effective in reducing participants’ social isolation and loneliness, increasing community integration, and improving mood and mental well-being. However, there is a large variation in the models of social prescribing and the methods used to evaluate them [ 25 ], and this has led some researchers to be critical of the approach [ 26 ].…”