ArticlePerspectives in public health2025
Can social prescribing reach patients most in need? Patterns of (in)equalities in referrals in a representative cohort of older adults in England.
Article in Perspectives in public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Potential harms of social prescribing: a global umbrella review and dark logic model.BMJ open · 2026Pooled it
- Delivering Inclusive Cultural Offers for Social Prescribing: A Realist Evaluation Involving Older People From Global Majority Backgrounds and Cultural Sector Providers in the UK.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Inequalities in referrals to social prescribing from primary care in England: A retrospective observational study.PloS one · 2026Observational
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
aimsSocial prescribing (SP) is a mechanism of care referring people to non-clinical forms of support and services in local communities to improve health and wellbeing. But there is much contention over whether SP is provided disproportionately more to individuals who are less disadvantaged. A comprehensive analysis of who is receiving SP from both medical and non-medical referral routes has never been undertaken.
methodsWe used data from 7283 adults aged 50+ in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), incorporating novel questions on SP into Wave 10. Multiple logistic regression models were used to explore predictors of self-reported referrals to SP.
resultsA total of 495 adults (6.8%) reported receiving an SP referral and 435 (88%) accepted. Referrals were more likely among older adults (odds ratio (OR) = 1.02, confidence interval (CI) = 1.01-1.03), those with chronic pain (OR = 1.78, CI = 1.40-2.27), those who were lonely (OR = 2.20, CI = 1.63-2.97), those from the lowest wealth tertile (OR = 1.59, CI = 1.17-2.18) and those receiving benefits (OR = 2.02, CI = 1.52-2.69). Diagnosed psychiatric conditions and depressive symptoms, sedentary behaviours, cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, and physical inactivity predicted referrals only in minimally adjusted models. But those with multiple long-term conditions were more likely to be referred (OR = 2.02, CI = 1.00-4.08).
conclusionThere is promising initial evidence that SP referrals are occurring among older adults in England, with high uptake among those referred. Promisingly, those with the highest socio-economic need and most long-term health conditions particularly appear to be receiving support. Mental health appears more of a secondary rather than a primary referral predictor.
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