Adapting social prescribing to groups in vulnerable situations: a multi-national co-creation study

Rasmussen, Lene G., Oeser, Philip, Baggio, Stéphanie, Hörmann, Simon L., Haller, Moa Lina, Berthoud, Aline, Marques, Maria J., Dias, Sónia, Rezvani, Farhad, Napierala, Hendrik, Hawkins, Jemma ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1998-9547, Herrmann, Wolfram and Agergaard, Sine 2026. Adapting social prescribing to groups in vulnerable situations: a multi-national co-creation study. BMC Public Health 10.1186/s12889-026-29275-z

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Abstract

Background Primary care consultations have been found to acknowledge patients’ health-related social problems but not systematically meet them. Social problems such as debt, housing, family and work issues along with loneliness are unevenly distributed and disproportionately affect the access to health care of particular groups including LGBTIQ+ individuals, refugees and migrants, and older adults living alone. Social prescribing has been proposed as a tool to address social problems of groups in vulnerable situations. Yet research into potential adaptations of social prescribing to meet needs among groups with diverse vulnerabilities remains limited. This study aimed to explore how the different stages of the social prescribing pathway (referral, linking, and community engagement) can be adapted to better address unmet social needs of people in a variety of vulnerable situations. Methods This co-creation study is part of an EU Horizon Europe project, Social Prescribing-EU, which aims to assess the potential of social prescribing to improve access to health and care services for groups in vulnerable situations. Conducted across three European hubs, Berlin, Aalborg, and Bern, this paper focuses on four consultations and six co-production workshops with diverse stakeholders. Data sources included workshop materials, field notes, and transcripts of audio recordings. Data were thematically analysed within each hub and synthesised collaboratively across sites. Results Despite the diverse vulnerabilities in the target groups discussed, common requests were identified across the stages of social prescribing. These included the importance of GPs’ communication with patients about their social situations; of link workers approaching each individual with a flexible and open approach; and of diverse community options being available in which participation is linked with individual interests rather than target-group membership. Yet our findings also point to possible tensions in social prescribing, for example between meeting requests for target-group-specific knowledge while also avoiding stereotyping participants. Conclusion Our study proposes an interpretation of vulnerability in social prescribing as an individualised and contextual state that may be met through informed, person-centred approaches. Communication, sensitivity training, and strengthening person-centred approaches in general practice and link-worker teams could promote accommodating the needs of diverse groups in potentially vulnerable situations throughout the social prescribing pathway.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education) Schools > School of Social and Spatial Sciences
Publisher:	BioMed Central
ISSN:	1471-2458
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	16 September 2026
Date of Acceptance:	27 August 2026
Last Modified:	16 Sep 2026 15:22
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/189679

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