SynthesisFrontiers in public health2026
The health economics of social prescribing: systematic review of the international evidence.
Synthesis in Frontiers in public health, 2026. 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
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
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Systematic literature review of economic studies on nature-based social prescribing for health improvement.BMC primary care · 2026Pooled it
- Let us stop admiring the problem: we need social prescribing for children with disability now.BMJ paediatrics open · 2026Article
- Connecting for health: qualitative exploration of community nursing in social prescribing for social determinants of health.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Impact of a Cultural Heritage Therapy Programme on the Mental Health of People Living With a Mental Illness; a Mixed Methods Evaluation Incorporating Economic Evaluation Methods.Global advances in integrative medicine and healthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Social prescribing is an approach to improving health and wellbeing that links individuals to community-based supports, such as arts programs, physical activity initiatives, financial or housing advice, volunteering opportunities, and social groups. Although evidence supporting its effects on physical, functional, and mental health outcomes is expanding, no systematic review of the international evidence has yet assessed the health economics of social prescribing. Aim: To systematically review evidence on the health economic methods and tools that have been used to evaluate social prescribing initiatives internationally. Methods: A systematic search of seven electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Trials, APA PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Ovid Global Health) was conducted alongside gray literature and citation searching. Two reviewers independently screened titles, abstracts, and full texts using Covidence, with disagreements resolved with a third researcher. Data extraction followed a structured protocol, and thematic analysis informed a narrative synthesis of findings. Results: Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria: 5 randomized controlled trials, one quasi-experimental study, and 12 mixed-methods studies. Interventions reflected four main categories: exercise-based or loneliness-prevention initiatives ( Conclusion: Robust economic evidence on social prescribing remains limited. Despite the availability of established health economic methods and tools, these are rarely applied to social prescribing, limiting the usefulness of existing studies for healthcare planning and commissioning.
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.