Social Prescribing

Around 25% of GP consultations can offer no medical solution for the patients’ concerns because at the root of their worries are problems that are social in nature rather than medical. In response the NHS have rolled out a new social prescribing service in the UK. Social prescribing is the process by which GPs and others refer someone to a Link Worker, who is a new professional in the health system who can spend more time with the patient identifying what matters to them and help put things in place that might ultimately improve their health and wellbeing. This often involves referring the patient to social solutions such as arts and culture, sports, nature, financial support and housing. Arts Derbyshire are undertaking development work, funded by Public Health, focused on how the culture, health and wellbeing sectors can work together to ensure that social prescribing clients have good access to the County’s cultural offer. We are aiming to do this in a strategic but nuanced way.

Background

At the time Covid 19 hit the UK, the first tranche of NHS Link Workers were just about on board. A new type of worker within the NHS family…a small army of people excited and hopeful about the prospect of bringing a social model of working to sit alongside the medical one, and at being able to use their skills to help people figure out what matters to them. But what happens to Social Prescribing at a time of social distancing? When the social is shut down, how can social be prescribed? And when a role that is fundamentally about connection between people and the social fabric of the world around them, can’t be done in the way that it was intended, where does that leave the Link Worker? What happens to all that excitement…and that hope?

Cultural Prescriptions – 2020

Based on conversations with a number of Link Workers, Arts Derbyshire developed Cultural Prescriptions, a creative programme designed specifically for Link Workers in Derbyshire. An artist driven programme, it was designed to support and enrich the Link Worker interactions with clients through creative approaches. Conducted through a series of zoom gatherings on Zoom over six months throughout 2020, it drew on some of the essential qualities of the artist such as agility, imagination and curiosity. It encouraged Link Workers to follow passions, notice what others don’t and experiment and adapt in order to see how these might be maximised within their own Link Worker roles.

Joyful Interruptions Zine

The Link Workers realised through their work that for most people it’s easy to notice the gloom. It often turns up without invite, wandering in and taking a seat before we know it. But, they thought, what about the joy? Sometimes the most joyful things come along when and where we least expect them. The surprise and interruption to routine gives it an energy that it might not otherwise have. But too often it seems we have to work harder for the joy. So they did. Together with some of their clients they treasure hunted the joyful interruptions that bring us to life when we need it. They are now held within the Joyful Interruptions Zine. It should be used as a jumping off point to find more.

Link Worker Manifesto

As Social Prescribing fundamentally relies on cross-sector, collaborative working, inwhich the medical model sits alongside the social, the Manifesto is ultimately intended as a provocation to ask whether there is real collective vision for this work is and to question whether we are all on the same page, locally, regionally and nationally. Duringthese sessions Link Workers discussed and debated what the link worker role is. As aresult they co-produced a Link Worker Manifesto to share their thinking with others. It is an expression of why this group of Link Workers believe their role exists; what they think the potential of their practice is and what they need in order to achieve that potential.

Videos of our projects

Cultural Prescriptions Link Worker Support Programme Trailer:

Cultural Prescriptions Link Worker Support Programme, Full Film:

Link Worker Manifesto Video:

Digital Downloadables

Below are links to digital versions of our printed manifesto and our Joyful Interruptions Zine.

Link Worker Manifesto

Joyful Interruptions Zine

Artist Inquiry and the Non-Prescriptive newspaper:  a curious enquiry into Social Prescribing in Derbyshire

During an Artist Inquiry into Social Prescribing in Derbyshire, in which artist Kate Genever worked with people across sectors who had something to say on the matter, the passion for the work, and the very real difference that it makes to people, was very clear.

There are some incredible examples of people and work in Derbyshire.  In some cases those examples show what happens when the different parts of the system…or even the ecosystem…work in tune, pulling together… and when the people involved feel seen, valued, supported and encouraged to follow their passions.   Whilst others show what happens when success comes despite the system, or when the system gets out of the way.  It is 100% always about what people are capable of when they love what they do, and dig deep for the people they are making the difference for.

Unfortunately what also came out was a lot of frustration at the flaws that were baked into the way social prescribing was conceived and rolled out nationally within the NHS, and in the system that should be supporting the work.  There was sadness in knowing that the immense potential of social prescribing is right in front of us and yet tauntingly out of reach.

The messages that came out were complicated but it was clear that:

• Amazing work is happening but it’s largely invisible beyond hyper local
• Being able to point to amazing work is really important for the development of meaningful and effective practice – it bolsters the practitioner’s position and motivation and acts as a bench mark that others can use in their own places
• It’s important to ask what an enabling culture looks like
• Challenging topics and sticky issues need a place to be aired, as well as the good news stories
• People need to feel both seen, heard and valued
• A variety of voices need to be heard for the effective development of the work – the patient and participant, the Link Worker, GPs and PCNs, the VCSE providers, the ICB, local government etc
• Support mechanisms and a place to share questions and ideas are still thin on the ground – a space for collective and reflective thinking is needed
• Social prescribing is hardest in areas of inequality and where provision is low…and we may be guilty of reinforcing existing inequalities
• We need to create a shift

We could see great work…as well as gaps…and whilst collectively we don’t have the power to make the change we want quickly, we realised that we could make it visible, we could amplify, and we could coalesce our efforts into something tangible.

The Non-Prescriptive newspaper emerged.

Non-Prescriptive:  a curious enquiry into Social Prescribing

Non-Prescriptive is co-produced with professionals across the different sectors involved in Social Prescribing in Derbyshire.  It is designed for a professional audience.  All the articles are written with or by different people in the ecology of Social Prescribing in Derbyshire.  What’s important about Non-Prescriptive is not just the newspaper as a product…but the discussions, connections, relationships and actions that have emerged as a result of producing it (more on that coming soon).  It is accompanied by an online Padlet platform in which to continue the discussion, which can be accessed via QR codes in the newspaper.    And whilst it has taken some time to create Non-Prescriptive, and Social Prescribing has cracked on and become more embedded in local practice in the meantime, there are some big questions about strategic ambition and support.  A key question posed in Non-Prescriptive is about whether a collective vision is needed in Derbyshire and what exactly the point of that would be.

You can read Non-Prescriptive here.