Improving understanding of social prescribing by potential referrers

Social prescribing (SP) connects people with non-clinical, community resources to address social determinants of health and improve wellbeing. Many healthcare professionals lack clear understanding of SP.

To assess baseline understanding of SP among healthcare students and the effect of a brief educational video on definitional accuracy and confidence.

A cross-sectional survey of Medicine, Pharmacy and Nursing undergraduates, in North-East England, assessed knowledge of SP before and immediately after exposure to a brief educational video. Participants were asked if they knew what a link worker was; their confidence in explaining SP and for a brief definition. Paired non-parametric tests assessed change.

49 of 76 respondents met eligibility criteria. Prior to the video 78% had heard of SP and 59% said they knew what it was but only 4 knew what a link worker was. After the video there was a significant large increase in confidence and a significant modest increase in ability to define SP. The mean definition score rose from 1.33/4 (s.d. 0.9) to 2.0 (s.d. 0.91). Two gaps in conceptual understanding persisted post-video: the referral component and the link worker role.

Following the educational video, there were immediate improvements in confidence and modest improvements in definitional accuracy for SP. Longer term retention and application of knowledge were not assessed. Students most readily grasp "what SP connects to" (community assets, wellbeing) yet struggle with "who enacts SP and how referrals flow". We acknowledge the small sample size. Curricula should introduce SP early and explicitly teach all components.