SynthesisBMJ open2022
Effect of social prescribing link workers on health outcomes and costs for adults in primary care and community settings: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 78 papers, 12 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
78 citing papers in PubMed, 12 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Primary care-based interventions for post-stroke follow-up for long-term care: a systematic review.Family practice · 2026Pooled it
- Potential harms of social prescribing: a global umbrella review and dark logic model.BMJ open · 2026Pooled it
- Systematic literature review of economic studies on nature-based social prescribing for health improvement.BMC primary care · 2026Pooled it
- Key factors influencing post-diagnostic support and care planning for people with dementia from South Asian backgrounds: a systematic review of qualitative studies.BMC geriatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Economic evidence related to the use of community assets in the management of frailty: a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- The health economics of social prescribing: systematic review of the international evidence.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness and strategies of social prescribing in Korea using a machine learning topic modeling.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled it
- Outcomes and instruments used in social prescribing: a modified umbrella review.Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice · 2024Pooled it
- Critical components of social prescribing programmes with a focus on older adults - a systematic review.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2023Pooled it
- Community interventions for anxiety and depression in adults and young people: A systematic review.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Social prescribing outcomes: a mapping review of the evidence from 13 countries to identify key common outcomes.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- A Randomized Controlled Trial of Social Prescribing: Comparing a Comprehensive Navigation Model With Signposting.Annals of family medicine · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Supporting goal setting to promote social connection in older adults: a rapid review.BMJ open · 2026Review
- Article
- Changes in healthcare use and cost associated with referrals to social prescribing link workers in England: a matched case-control cohort study.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- Cultural Prescribing: Concepts, Evidence, Implementation, and the Contribution of Socially Engaged Art.Yonago acta medica · 2026Review
- Legitimacy, trust and readiness for implementing lifestyle medicine in England: a cross-sectional study.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Effects of Social Prescribing for Older Adults: An Evidence and Gap Map.Campbell systematic reviews · 2026Review
18 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo establish the evidence base for the effects on health outcomes and costs of social prescribing link workers (non-health or social care professionals who connect people to community resources) for people in community settings focusing on people experiencing multimorbidity and social deprivation.
designSystematic review and narrative synthesis using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. DATA SOURCES: Cochrane Database, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, ClinicalTrials.gov, EU Clinical Trials Register, CINAHL, Embase, Global Health, PubMed/MEDLINE, PsycInfo, LILACS, Web of Science and grey literature were searched up to 31 July 2021. A forward citation search was completed on 9 June 2022. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Controlled trials meeting the Cochrane Effectiveness of Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) guidance on eligible study designs assessing the effect of social prescribing link workers for adults in community settings on any outcomes. No language restrictions were applied. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Two independent reviewers extracted data, evaluated study quality using the Cochrane EPOC risk of bias tool and judged certainty of the evidence. Results were synthesised narratively.
resultsEight studies (n=6500 participants), with five randomised controlled trials at low risk of bias and three controlled before-after studies at high risk of bias, were included. Four included participants experiencing multimorbidity and social deprivation. Four (n=2186) reported no impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Four (n=1924) reported mental health outcomes with three reporting no impact. Two US studies found improved ratings of high-quality care and reduced hospitalisations for people with multimorbidity experiencing deprivation. No cost-effectiveness analyses were identified. The certainty of the evidence was low or very low.
conclusionsThere is an absence of evidence for social prescribing link workers. Policymakers should note this and support evaluation of current programmes before mainstreaming. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42019134737.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.