Social Prescribing is a growing health care approach that aims to address the wider social, non-medical determinants of health by connecting people to community-based activities and services. What is not clear is whether and how this intervention can change systematic inequalities in wellbeing between different communities. In a 12-month pilot project in Birmingham, researchers and practitioners from University of Birmingham and The Active Wellbeing Society aimed to find out whether and how an assets based approach to research and practice could inform the design of social prescribing to change structural inequalities.
A central principle of assets-based approaches to social prescribing is co-production with diverse professionals and local communities. However, the common challenge for such cross-sector partnerships is the tendency for some interests to dominate. This tension was acknowledged in the launch of the Wales National Framework for Social Prescribing, in December 2023. Building on my previous research into cross-sector collaboration in Wales, we aimed to co-create a Community of Practice for shared learning and joint action that would build relationships and critically address power. Our presentation shows how the Community developed a shared vision, a plan for action and a strategy for pooled resources. We explain how this creates the conditions for three main transformative shifts which can change systematic inequalities between communities’ wellbeing but depends on interaction with the wider governance environment.
The project is the result of support from WISERD since 2018, which helped to establish a practitioner academic network, Social Prescribing Assets and Relationships in Communities (SPARC).