Social Prescribing as ‘Social Cure’: A longitudinal study of the health benefits of social connectedness within a Social Prescribing pathway

Juliet Ruth Helen Wakefield; Blerina Këllezi; Clifford Stevenson; Niamh McNamara; Mhairi Bowe; Iain Wilson; Moon Halder; Elizabeth Mair

doi:10.1177/1359105320944991

Social Prescribing as ‘Social Cure’: A longitudinal study of the health benefits of social connectedness within a Social Prescribing pathway

Juliet Ruth Helen Wakefield^*, Blerina Këllezi, Clifford Stevenson, Niamh McNamara, Mhairi Bowe, Iain Wilson, Moon Halder, Elizabeth Mair

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

We examined whether the Social Cure (SC) perspective explains the efficacy of a Social Prescribing (SP) pathway which addresses healthcare needs through enhancing social connections. Data were collected at pathway entry from patients with long-term health conditions, or who felt isolated/lonely/anxious (N = 630), then again 4 months later (N = 178), and 6-9 months later (N = 63). Being on the pathway was associated with increased group memberships between T0 and T1. The relationship between increased group memberships and quality-of-life was serially mediated by belonging, support and loneliness. This study is the first to show SP enhances health/well-being via SC mechanisms.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	386-396
Number of pages	11
Journal	Journal of Health Psychology
Volume	27
Issue number	2
Early online date	23 Jul 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105320944991
Publication status	Published - Feb 2022

Keywords

loneliness
social cure
social prescribing
social support
wellbeing

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Applied Psychology

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title = "Social Prescribing as {\textquoteleft}Social Cure{\textquoteright}: A longitudinal study of the health benefits of social connectedness within a Social Prescribing pathway",

abstract = "We examined whether the Social Cure (SC) perspective explains the efficacy of a Social Prescribing (SP) pathway which addresses healthcare needs through enhancing social connections. Data were collected at pathway entry from patients with long-term health conditions, or who felt isolated/lonely/anxious (N = 630), then again 4 months later (N = 178), and 6-9 months later (N = 63). Being on the pathway was associated with increased group memberships between T0 and T1. The relationship between increased group memberships and quality-of-life was serially mediated by belonging, support and loneliness. This study is the first to show SP enhances health/well-being via SC mechanisms.",

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AU - Bowe, Mhairi

AU - Wilson, Iain

AU - Halder, Moon

AU - Mair, Elizabeth

N1 - Funding Information: The research team would like to thank Rushcliffe Borough Council, Let’s Live Well in Rushcliffe, and the community co-production team with their involvement in this research. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research of this article: This work was supported by Implementing Recovery through Organisational Change (ImROC), an NHS-based organisation. There is no grant number for this funding. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2020.

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Social Prescribing as ‘Social Cure’: A longitudinal study of the health benefits of social connectedness within a Social Prescribing pathway

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Keywords

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