Potential lateral and upstream consequences in the development and implementation of social prescribing in Australia

Abstract

Social prescribing generally involves referral from health services (e.g. primary care) to services provided by the community and voluntary sectors (e.g. housing or financial support; supports to address social isolation). Social prescribing, then, sits at the interface between health, community, and voluntary services and aims to address the lack of integration between services to better address people’s holistic needs. However, concerns have been raised internationally about the potential lateral effect of increased referrals on the capacity of the existing community and voluntary services.17 Brown et al.,18 for example, note “concerns that existing community assets may not be able to handle the increased demand without receiving additional resources and training” (p. 620). These concerns are also relevant to the Australian context