LGA responds to social prescribing research

19 Nov 2019 10:55 AM

Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, responded to research by the UK-wide National Referral Database on social prescribing 

“Social prescribing schemes remain in their relative infancy on a national scale but are becoming increasingly popular as councils look to embed preventative approaches in the services that they provide.

“Locally-led, targeted interventions and facilities, such as museums, libraries, leisure centres and parks, have a major role to play in helping communities to become creative and physically active.

“Wellbeing is complicated and hard to measure. Outcomes can differ widely from one individual to another and are unpredictable.

“It is important that any social prescribing activity is properly resourced to allow evaluation and research to take place.

Notes to editors

The LGA’s report ‘Just What the Doctor Ordered’ highlights some case studies where social prescribing has had an impact on individuals and local communities and we will be publishing a guide to effective social prescribing for local authorities in April 2020.