Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SP-EU (Social Prescribing to promote and improve access to health and care services for people in vulnerable situations in Europe)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2025-01-01 do 2025-12-31
Across Europe, many individuals face significant barriers to accessing healthcare due to social, economic, and structural factors. These challenges disproportionately affect people in vulnerable situations, including LGBTIQ+ individuals, refugees and first-generation migrants, and older adults living alone. General practitioners (GPs) frequently encounter patients whose health problems are closely linked to social issues such as isolation, housing insecurity, discrimination, or limited access to community resources. However, primary care services often lack the structures and resources needed to address these non-medical determinants of health effectively.
Social prescribing (SP) offers a promising approach to bridge this gap by enabling healthcare professionals to refer patients to non-clinical, community-based support. This process is typically facilitated by trained link workers who help individuals identify and access appropriate local services and activities. While social prescribing has shown potential to strengthen integrated, people-centred care, evidence on its effectiveness for marginalised and underserved populations remains limited, and existing models are often insufficiently adapted to their specific needs.
The EU-funded SP-EU project addresses this gap by systematically adapting, implementing, and evaluating social prescribing for vulnerable groups across Europe. Using a combination of co-creation methods, randomised controlled trials, and qualitative research, SP-EU aims to develop tailored, evidence-based social prescribing models that improve access to community resources and reduce health inequalities. By strengthening the integration of health and social care, the project contributes to EU policy priorities on equity, inclusion, and sustainable healthcare systems, and supports the development of more responsive primary care services across diverse European contexts.
Social prescribing (SP) offers a promising approach to bridge this gap by enabling healthcare professionals to refer patients to non-clinical, community-based support. This process is typically facilitated by trained link workers who help individuals identify and access appropriate local services and activities. While social prescribing has shown potential to strengthen integrated, people-centred care, evidence on its effectiveness for marginalised and underserved populations remains limited, and existing models are often insufficiently adapted to their specific needs.
The EU-funded SP-EU project addresses this gap by systematically adapting, implementing, and evaluating social prescribing for vulnerable groups across Europe. Using a combination of co-creation methods, randomised controlled trials, and qualitative research, SP-EU aims to develop tailored, evidence-based social prescribing models that improve access to community resources and reduce health inequalities. By strengthening the integration of health and social care, the project contributes to EU policy priorities on equity, inclusion, and sustainable healthcare systems, and supports the development of more responsive primary care services across diverse European contexts.
During the first year of the project, SP-EU focused on foundational work to adapt social prescribing to vulnerable populations and to prepare its formal evaluation. A central activity was an extensive international co-creation process. Through a series of structured workshops, representatives of LGBTIQ+ persons, refugees and first-generation migrants, and older adults living alone worked together with researchers and practitioners to adapt social prescribing interventions and study procedures to their specific needs. The findings from these workshops were discussed across all participating countries, iteratively refined, and ultimately agreed upon during a consensus conference. Key recommendations included, among others, the integration of sensitivity and diversity training into link worker education and the need for flexible, locally adaptable implementation strategies.
In parallel, the project team developed a digital link working tool designed to support link workers in identifying and navigating suitable local community services for patients. This tool has been made publicly available via GitHub, promoting transparency and reuse.
SP-EU also developed a draft logic model describing how social prescribing operates across macro, meso, and micro levels. This model provides a structured framework for understanding mechanisms of action and pathways to impact and has been presented and discussed at national and international conferences.
Building on the outcomes of the co-creation process, the consortium prepared a multinational randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of adapted social prescribing interventions in improving access to community resources for people in vulnerable situations. A major milestone was the successful receipt of ethical approval at the lead study hub.
In addition, the project actively communicated its activities and early results through a press release that received substantial attention, media interviews, social media engagement, and presentations and workshops at scientific and professional conferences.
In parallel, the project team developed a digital link working tool designed to support link workers in identifying and navigating suitable local community services for patients. This tool has been made publicly available via GitHub, promoting transparency and reuse.
SP-EU also developed a draft logic model describing how social prescribing operates across macro, meso, and micro levels. This model provides a structured framework for understanding mechanisms of action and pathways to impact and has been presented and discussed at national and international conferences.
Building on the outcomes of the co-creation process, the consortium prepared a multinational randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of adapted social prescribing interventions in improving access to community resources for people in vulnerable situations. A major milestone was the successful receipt of ethical approval at the lead study hub.
In addition, the project actively communicated its activities and early results through a press release that received substantial attention, media interviews, social media engagement, and presentations and workshops at scientific and professional conferences.
SP-EU advances the state of the art in several important ways. The international co-creation process itself represents a novel approach, bringing together representatives of multiple vulnerable groups across countries to jointly shape social prescribing interventions and research design. This inclusive, participatory methodology goes beyond traditional top-down intervention development and enhances relevance, acceptability, and transferability.
Furthermore, the development of a hub-and-spoke model for implementation and evaluation offers a new framework for conducting complex randomised controlled trials in European primary care settings. This model has the potential to improve coordination, comparability, and scalability of future social prescribing research and other complex interventions.
Together, these innovations lay the groundwork for wider uptake of tailored social prescribing models and inform future research, policy development, and implementation efforts at national and European levels.
Furthermore, the development of a hub-and-spoke model for implementation and evaluation offers a new framework for conducting complex randomised controlled trials in European primary care settings. This model has the potential to improve coordination, comparability, and scalability of future social prescribing research and other complex interventions.
Together, these innovations lay the groundwork for wider uptake of tailored social prescribing models and inform future research, policy development, and implementation efforts at national and European levels.