Social Prescribing Link Workers are part of the multi-disciplinary team (MDT), delivering personalised care to people and enabling them to take control of their health and wellbeing.
Social Prescribing Link Workers can support anyone who would benefit, including but not exclusively people in the following situations:
- On the lower level of the mental health/illness continuum
- With one or more long-term conditions
- Those who are lonely or experiencing social isolation
- Those who have complex social needs that affect their wellbeing
- Those who are having financial and housing issues
- Carers
- People who are experiencing domestic violence
Social Prescribing Link Workers may do one or more of the following:
- Make observations from a social and wider determinants of health point of view
- Seek to address what matters to the individual holistically through time to talk and shared decision-making
- Facilitate connections to the right support and interventions that can help address the identified needs, which in turn helps to improve mental health and physical well-being.
- Refer people to a variety of voluntary and community sector schemes that provide activities and support such as volunteering, exercise groups, gardening, healthy eating and cooking.
- Support individuals to be resilient, independent, empowered, and able to unblock barriers to better health and wellbeing which are largely responsible for health inequalities.
- The Training Hub provides funded subscriptions to the National Association Link Workers Comprehensive Membership for one year, which includes access to 24/7 clinical supervision, peer support, and networking with regional SPLWs.
- The Personalised Care Institute provides training webinars for SPLWs, Health Coaches and Care Coordinators. Please see their website for further details.
- The level 3 Community Health & Wellbeing Apprenticeship course is available locally at Dudley College, with course fees and a contribution towards backfill funded by the Training Hub. Please contact the team for further details at primarycare.
blackcountry @nhs.net - NHSE have produced an induction guide for social prescribing link workers in primary care networks which you can view here: Social Prescribing Link Worker welcome pack - web version
- NHSE have also produced a leaflet designed for practice staff to give to people who have been referred to a social prescribing link worker. It explains what social prescribing is and what the link worker will do: Personalised Care what is social prescribing?
Join NHS Futures Social Prescribing Collaboration Platform to become a member.
Free Training on e-learning for health for SPLWs. 12 modules that you can work through at your own pace.
Social Prescribing - elearning for healthcare (e-lfh.org.uk)
The Training Hub invites Social Prescribing Link Workers to a regular forum, which provides networking opportunities and useful updates. Please see the events calendar for upcoming dates.
The forum is dedicated to your wellbeing, your training needs and is a space to share contacts and knowledge. In the Black Country there is a rich variety of experience and through the Forums we can be inspired by good practice, patient stories and share learning opportunities. This is also open to Health & Wellbeing Coaches and Care Coordinators.
Facilitated by Anna Baker-Barnes, Social Prescribing Link Worker Ambassador.
