Russell is joined by Sharon Sweeney, from the University of Dundee’s student finance team who has recently finished a Masters degree, as part of which Sharon completed a dissertation on the role of social prescribing in patient primary care in Scotland.

Sharon provides a simple ‘primer’ of what socisal prescribing is and what sort of activities it undertakes, with a particular focus on how it is being deployed in Scotland and her home city of Dundee. They also discuss the extent to which social prescribing can, and needs to, move beyond supporting individual needs and aspirations and can draw on community development to take collective forms of action to tackle health inequalities.

Recorded during Covid-19 lockdown in the UK, they consider what might social prescribers’ experiential learning and reflection be seeking to capture during the pandemic.

Sharon suggests following the CLD Standards Council Scotland on Twitter and this further reading should people wish to know more:

Braddeley, B, Somalingham, S, Cooper, M (2015) Social Prescribing in general practice InnovAit, 06, 1-3.

Cawston, P, Social Prescribing in very deprived areas, British Journal of General Practice, May 2011, p.350.

NHS Tayside Connect to Local Support, https://www.nhstayside.scot.nhs.uk/OurServicesA-Z/ALISS/index.htm.

Whitelaw, S et al (2016) Developing and implementing a social prescribing initiative in primary care, Primary Health Care Research and Development, 201; 19:112-121.