BACKGROUND
Social Prescribing (SP) takes a holistic approach to health by linking clients from the clinical setting to community programs to address their non-medical needs. The emerging, SP evidence base demonstrates variability in how different SP initiatives are designed and implemented. To effectively address these needs, co-production between clients, communities, stakeholders and policy makers is important to tailor social prescribing initiatives for optimal uptake.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this scoping review is to explore the role of coproduction and policy on social prescribing initiatives. This objective will be addressed by the following research questions: 1) How has co-production been incorporated into SP across a range of SP initiatives, and 2) How has policy potentially influenced, as a facilitator or barrier, SP initiatives?
METHODS
A review of international literature will be conducted using the JBI guideline for scoping reviews. Multiple databased including Scopus, Medline, and the PAIS Index will be searched along with grey literature disseminated during 2000-2023. Primary studies for inclusion will describe: a non-medical need for the client, non-medical SP program or initiative, co-production of the SP program and follow up. Review articles and commentaries will be excluded. Titles, abstracts, and full text articles will be screened, and data extracted by at least two team members using Covidence and a pilot-tested extraction template. Clients with lived experience will be included in the research process. Findings will be descriptively summarized and thematically synthesized to answer the two research questions. This scoping review has been registered with Open Science Framework.
RESULTS
The project was funded in 2022, the results are expected to be submitted for publication in late 2024.
CONCLUSIONS
This scoping review will address the knowledge gap on how co-production is used in SP initiatives and how policy influences those initiatives. We anticipate this review will be used to guide clients, communities, stakeholders and policy makers to further develop SP practice and policy options in healthcare systems.