Social Prescribing Schemes in Primary Care in Spain (EvalRA Project): a mixed-method study protocol to build an...

Area of Science:

• Primary Health Care
• Health Services Research
• Public Health

Background:

• Social prescribing offers non-clinical alternatives to improve patient health and well-being.
• Emerging evidence suggests benefits for individuals and healthcare system sustainability.
• Current evaluations of social prescribing are insufficient, necessitating further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an evaluation model for social prescribing schemes in primary health care.
• To establish a set of structure, process, and outcome indicators for evaluating social prescribing.
• To address the need for standardized evaluation methods in social prescribing.

Main Methods:

• The EvaLRA project involves two stages: indicator identification and piloting.
• Stage 1 used qualitative consensus techniques with experts to identify initial indicators.
• Stage 2 involved evaluating indicator relevance, feasibility, and sensitivity in primary care settings over 6 and 12 months.

Main Results:

• A set of indicators for social prescribing schemes, considering structure, process, and outcomes, will be provided.
• The study will pilot these indicators in primary health care teams in Aragon.
• Results will offer a tool for evaluating social prescribing implementation.

Conclusions:

• A standardized set of indicators is crucial for evaluating social prescribing schemes effectively.
• The developed evaluation model and indicators can enhance the assessment of social prescribing services.
• This work can inform other health systems on evaluating and improving social prescribing.