Social prescribing – the connection of people to communities, services and activities to meet their practical, social and emotional needs – has become an increasingly important element of healthcare policy. As debate intensifies over an appropriate national model, this new book provides the first comprehensive overview of the entire concept of social prescribing.

Social Prescribing: Paradigms, Perspectives and Practice pulls together arguments, evidence and resources to define social prescribing and analyze how it can change lives. It considers a range of paradigms for improving health and wellbeing through social approaches, and provides real-life examples of where the theory has been realized in practice.

The book is well-balanced and easy to understand, making it ideal for healthcare practitioners, researchers and policy makers who are interested in exploring the potential of social prescribing for improving health and wellbeing.

Editor Heather Henry is former chair of New NHS Alliance (now The Health Creation Alliance CIC), which influences national health strategy and policy on health inequalities and wellbeing. Her NHS career in primary care as both a practising Queen's Nurse and NHS director, combined with her experience of the voluntary community and social enterprise sector, ideally qualifies her to curate and interpret a wide range of contributions from household names to seldom-heard voices.

• Presents a balanced approach to the current debates and critiques of social prescribing


• Summarises the main arguments with supporting evidence and resources


• Covers the history and current policy, and provides a detailed analysis of the evidence base around how social prescribing can improve wellbeing


• Offers different paradigms and models of social prescribing, including concepts around power, control, relationships, economics, recognizing strengths and assets, managing complexity, and enabling self-organisation


• Includes perspectives from an impressive list of contributors, from eminent thought leaders like Professor Sir Michael Marmot and Lord Gus O’Donnell to local leaders, citizens and voices from all levels in the system


• Extends beyond health and care to other sectors that impact the social determinants of health including urgent and emergency services, housing and education


• Uses accessible language throughout – suitable for anyone from system leaders to researchers, educators, practitioners and students

Heather is a practising Queen's Nurse and the former chair of the New NHS Alliance, which influences national health strategy and policy on health inequalities. Her national nurse leadership focuses on the development of primary and community nursing, with a particular focus on general practice nursing. She is a former cardiothoracic nurse, general practice nurse, PCT deputy director of commissioning, PCT director of primary care and children’s trust project director. She specialises in health inequalities, salutogenesis (health creation) asset based community development (ABCD) and social innovation.

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