A radical plan to treat COVID’s mental health fallout

The NHS is trialling a new approach to tackling physical and mental health issues: ask what really matters. Social prescribing doesn’t just serve patients with obviously “social” issues, such as loneliness or social anxiety, but can also help those with physical issues, like dementia or cancer. The name comes from foundational research by Michael Marmot and Richard Wilkinson that suggests a person’s health is largely determined by social factors, like their work, environment and relationships. Social prescribing aims to address these factors, known as “social determinants”, by offering people prescriptions not in the form of a pill bottle, but as activities in their local community. These can include exercise groups such as Frost’s cycling course, but also music lessons, gardening projects, nature walks or even help to get a job or housing.

Though the idea of social prescribing has existed in the UK for a couple of decades, the cascading health consequences of a year in isolation has energised interest in the practice. And, as Covid-19 rapidly burns both ends of the healthcare candle – more patients in need of care, and a health service stretched to capacity – more health workers, policymakers and patients see social prescribing as part of the answer.

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