Social Prescribing: Providing Support Where It’s Needed Society and its public services are changing, and I want to focus on some of the positives I’ve seen working well in primary care and local clinical leadership during the pandemic.
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believe that many things are in the process of changing for good, and while I do not for one second deny the phenomenal hard work, suffering and grief throughout all of our organisations and communities, looking at some of the good news will help us heal and give us a vision for the future.
Photo credit: CM ‘Watercolour Support Bubbles’
Dr Marie Anne Essam Clinical Lead and Ambassador for Social Prescribing Dr Marie Anne Essam is a GP in Hertfordshire and works widely to develop and support social prescribing with regional, national and international development of the link worker role. Contact her on info@equiptoempower.co.uk and be sure to follow her on Twitter @marieannedoc 10
Changing Landscape of Health Social prescribing has flourished as a means by which people are receiving the right kind of help, finding hope for the future and building strength to achieve new possibilities. Flexing themselves into increased contact, virtually or by telephone, link workers have reached out to individuals and families whose social health challenges had been heightened as a direct or indirect result of COVID-19. Primary care networks (PCNs) have expressed their appreciation of the swift assistance that their social prescribing link workers have given to reach out to people on the shielding lists. They have become key players in the development and operationalisation of the local volunteer tsunami, ensuring resources have been streamlined efficiently for those who need them. The previous silo thinking and behaviour that separated different health, social care and community organisations has been replaced by strong cross-sector partnership working.
Help has been delivered together. The inter-organisational empathy and support has been tangible. Shared learning and the courage to try doing things differently are like never before. We now have an opportunity to engage in population health initiatives together, all across the nation, ensuring that the questions we ask ourselves and the outcomes we strive for are truly relevant to address inequalities in health and opportunities. The intelligence about our communities gained via social prescribing is a compass and a catalyst for this work. Unsung Heroes We brought groups of unpaid carers together to learn about their challenges during lockdown. Listening ears from health, social care and voluntary groups were present at the three virtual meetings, which focused specifically on adult carers of adults, adult carers of children with special needs, and young carers who either were caring for a parent or had a sibling with additional needs. We came to understand more deeply the incredible strengths and resilience of carers, what they might value in a carer’s
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