The dual impact of social prescribing: Targeting social determinants to enhance quality of life in chronic conditions

BACKGROUND: Chronic diseases are heavily influenced by social determinants of health (SDoH), requiring care that extends beyond medical interventions to address underlying issues. Social prescribing, which connects individuals to community resources, offers holistic care complementary to health systems. However, social prescribing requires context-specific tailoring and ongoing evaluation to meet community needs. AIM: To evaluate a 12-week social prescribing intervention targeting SDoH for individuals with, or at risk of developing chronic disease on health-related quality of life, general wellbeing, mental wellbeing, self-reported health, and healthcare utilisation. A secondary aim was to assess participant satisfaction with social prescribing. METHODS: A pre-post design using de-identified data collected from an ongoing intervention. Eligibility included adults in south-east New South Wales who presented to their General Practitioner (GP) with, or at risk of, chronic disease and completed the intervention between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2024. The social prescribing model involved link workers and participants co-designing individualised plans based on their needs and interests, conducted either in-person or by telephone consultations. Outcome measures collected pre- and post-intervention included health-related quality of life, self-reported health, general wellbeing, mental wellbeing, and healthcare utilisation. RESULTS: The study included 281 participants (mean age 57.7 years, 66.6% female). Significant improvements were observed in health-related quality of life (p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.645), self-reported health (p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.709), general wellbeing (p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.438), and mental wellbeing (p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.723). These benefits were consistent across binary gender and age groups. A non-significant trend toward reduced healthcare utilisation was observed. Participants reported high satisfaction with the program (9.27/10), with 75% stating they would not change it and a high likelihood (9.53/10) of recommending it to others. CONCLUSIONS: Social prescribing addressing SDoH improved health-related quality of life, wellbeing, and self-reported health for adults with, or at risk of developing, chronic diseases. This study is the first Australian evaluation of social prescribing demonstrating benefits on general wellbeing and mental wellbeing, with future analysis planned to explore impacts among Australia's specific cultural and linguistic groups.