SynthesisFrontiers in medicine2023
Social prescribing outcomes: a mapping review of the evidence from 13 countries to identify key common outcomes.
Synthesis in Frontiers in medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Systematic literature review of economic studies on nature-based social prescribing for health improvement.BMC primary care · 2026Pooled it
- The health economics of social prescribing: systematic review of the international evidence.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Outcomes and instruments used in social prescribing: a modified umbrella review.Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice · 2024Pooled it
- The impact of arts on prescription on individual health and wellbeing: a systematic review with meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Is social prescribing feasible in Türkiye? Young family doctors' perspectives: a focus group study.BMC primary care · 2026Article
- Pharmacist perceptions on the presentation of social isolation and loneliness (SIL) in community pharmacy settings in Ireland - A mixed methods study.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2026Article
- Community as Medicine: A Qualitative Study of How Group Health Coaching and Social Connection Improve Mental Well-Being in Older Adults.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Bridging health and community: descriptive analysis of social prescribing for older adults in Cambodia.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2026Article
- Social prescribing: Reclaiming the heart of community-rooted family medicine.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2026Article
- Organization and implementation of social prescribing in the Western Pacific Region: a scoping review.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2026Review
- ArtsRx as an arts prescribing model: leveraging CRM data to understand participation and engagement.Frontiers in public health · 2026Observational
- Barriers and facilitators to implementing social prescribing in child and adolescent mental health services: a qualitative analysis using the consolidated framework for implementation research.Frontiers in health services · 2026Article
- Integrated arts engagement as preventive infrastructure for active and healthy aging: a conceptual and policy framework.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Community Nurses as Gender-Responsive Social Prescribing Facilitators for Women's Psychosocial Health and Well-Being in China: A Qualitative Thematic Study.International journal of women's health · 2026Article
- Models, implementation, and reported outcomes of social prescribing interventions: a scoping review.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Developing a program theory for implementing a Danish social prescribing model: an ethnographic study.Frontiers in health services · 2026Article
- Developing a digital ecological momentary assessment tool for 'real time' evaluation in implementation science: testing through evaluation of a novel digital social prescribing intervention.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Identifying key outcomes for social prescribing research in the US: a Delphi method study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Understanding the successes and challenges of a social prescribing program for children and youth in Canada: a qualitative evaluation.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Social prescribing for refugee populations: a rapid realist review of international evidence.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: As a means for supporting a range of health and wellbeing goals, social prescribing programs have been implemented around the world. Reflecting a range of contexts, needs, innovation, and programing, a broad array of outcomes has been studied in relation to these programs. As interest in social prescribing grows, more targeted study of key outcomes and in turn evidence synthesis that can inform evidence-based practice, policy, and investment is needed. Methods and Results: This mapping review identified, described, and synthesized the broad array of social prescribing outcomes that have been studied in 13 countries and maps the outcomes that have been most commonly studied. From 87 articles included in this review, a total of 347 unique outcomes were identified, including 278 unique patient outcomes and 69 unique system outcomes. The most commonly studied categories of patient outcomes were found to be mental health, lifestyle and behavior, and patient/service user experience. The most commonly studied system outcomes were healthcare/service utilization and financial/economic outcomes. Discussion: This review highlights the value of heterogeneity and mixed methods approaches in outcomes studies for capturing nuanced experiences and outcomes in this nascent area of practice, while contributing to the advancement of evidence synthesis for social prescribing globally by quantifying and offering insight into the outcomes that have been studied to date. It also lays a foundation for the development of key common outcomes and a Core Outcomes Set for social prescribing. Additionally, it identified key outcomes that, given their relationship to critical health and social issues, warrant both broader and deeper study.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.