Health Services/Policy
What is the best measure to evaluate social prescribing programs in Australia? Rosanne Freak-Poli* Rosanne Freak-Poli Christina Aggar Yvonne Zurynski James R. Baker
Social issues underlie the majority of General Practitioners’ (GPs) consultations, yet GPs lack the resources to offer holistic care. Social prescribing allows GPs to refer patients to link workers who co-design personalised plans for community-based, non-clinical supports that address non-medical needs. Despite growing global recognition, evaluation measures for social prescribing are inconsistent.
Aim
To identify critical outcome domains for evaluating the impact of social prescribing programs in Australia.
Methods
A three-phase Delphi study was conducted during the 2023 ASPIRE (Australian Social Prescribing Institute of Research and Education) conference. Pre-conference discussions among five academics identified potential outcome domains. At the conference, 85 service providers (58%), researchers (26%), policy professionals (19%), and commissioning specialists (15%), participated in the Delphi. Most were female (58%; 17% no gender disclosed), aged 35–54 years (57%), with over 10 years of professional experience (66%).
Results
Participants ranked emotional/mental health (mean 6.3±1.9SD), social wellbeing (6.0±1.2), and quality of life (QoL; 6.0±1.6) as the highest impact domains. When asked to identify the most important outcome, QoL was selected (Figure 1). Participants identified QoL as:
- A broad measure of holistic wellbeing
- Capable of calculating economic impacts
- Meaningful from the individual’s perspective
- Inclusive of emotional, physical, and material wellbeing
The final Delphi survey focused on QoL items apt for evaluating the impact of social prescribing programs. The highest agreement was on health and physical wellbeing domains (94%), emotional wellbeing (93%), and material necessities such as financial, food, and housing security (92%).
Conclusion
QoL is the most valued outcome domain for evaluating social prescribing in Australia. Its ability to capture multidimensional wellbeing and economic impacts makes it a comprehensive and meaningful measure.
