Social prescribing for refugee populations: a protocol for a rapid realist review of international evidence

Social prescribing addresses complex individual health and social needs through person-centered referral from healthcare into community settings, supporting wellbeing and integrated care. While evidence for majority populations continues to expand, no review has yet synthesized evidence specifically for refugee populations, despite this group facing profound social and systemic barriers. As such, this protocol defines the research objectives for a rapid realist review that will identify what approaches to social interventions work for refugee populations, for whom they are effective, and under which circumstances.

A rapid realist review will be conducted to identify relevant evidence from both social prescribing interventions and social capital-based interventions (where comparably operationalized), published 2014-2024. The date range reflects recent expansion of both social prescribing interest and forced migration research, with earlier intervention being less commonly documented. Six databases will be searched (PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL, SCOPUS, PsycInfo), complemented by extensive supplementary search strategies. Two independent reviewers will screen and extract data using piloted criteria.

Realist analysis will map included evidence to identify intervention concepts, methodologies, populations, settings, delivery structures, and evaluation measures. This mapping will be used to identify and group families of interventions that function comparably and to develop program theories using if-then logic (statements theorizing how social prescribing programs may be effective using a context-mechanism-outcome configuration). Synthesis results will include multiple products to transparently evidence the working process of the review and to illustrate the final results.

Findings will be published in a peer-reviewed, open-access journal, with a briefing paper distributed to relevant research networks.

https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/PTKDX.