Exploring the Feasibility of the Expansion of Social Prescribing in the United States: A Policy Analysis

Consideration of patients’ social needs is a chief element of comprehensive primary care, as articulated by multiple American professional societies. A new model of community referral from the primary care setting, known as social prescribing, originated in the United Kingdom and seeks to standardize and expand the availability of this longstanding practice. I interviewed three key stakeholders to determine the series of conditions under which an expansion of social prescribing schemes in the United States would be most feasible and for which populations it could be most advantageous. Preliminary results of these interviews confirm the presence of a diverse set of social needs intervention models in the United States. Interestingly, the term social prescribing has not been widely adopted to refer to American programs that share its core features, as the moniker has not gained wide traction in this country to date. My findings indicate that community health centers (CHCs) are best positioned to serve as sites of future pilot projects utilizing the social prescribing model in the United States. CHCs are more likely to serve socioeconomically disadvantaged clients and have pre-existing, sophisticated relationships with the community sector required for such schemes. My recommendations include increased international efforts to develop American experts in this area and the identification of American physician advocates for the implementation of social prescribing in well-resourced communities to lead explorations of its feasibility within their local contexts.Master of Public Healt