Social prescribing 

Mental and physical health problems may be prevented and outcomes improved by diet, exercise and exposure to natural environments. We will build on CLAHRC-YH work to further evaluate asset-based, personalized social prescribing interventions for people with mental, physical and social complexities. 

We will build on a realist social prescribing evaluation by testing theories about how this works, and for which patients, in different localities.  We will refine our theories about how social prescribing works to promote physical health, social engagement and personal recovery. We will create partnerships between service providers, researchers and people with lived experience of mental health problems. Together we will co-produce a logic model for social prescribing which will form a platform for national grant funding for evaluative research. Linking with Health Economics, we will develop methods to quantify the clinical and economic benefits of these interventions.

Project lead: Professor Scott Weich | s.weich@sheffield.ac.uk