The ChurchWorks Commission and think tank Theos have published a new report setting out how faith organisations can work with social prescribing providers to support people’s health and wellbeing.
The report makes the case that faith groups are part of the solution to the healthcare crisis in this country - offering networks, resources and holistic solutions to people and social prescribing services.
Social prescribing plays a vital role in providing practical support for people who are struggling with loneliness, low-level mental health conditions, caring responsibilities and financial issues such as debt.
Faith groups contribute significantly to local social prescribing networks and, with their focus on community, relationship and holistic wellbeing, they can play a foundational role in preventative healthcare by supporting individuals to access the right support early on.
The report calls for the contribution of faith groups to be fully recognised and for proactive collaboration between faith communities, the voluntary sector, and the NHS. Alongside the report, two ‘How To’ guides will be published, providing faith leaders and Social Prescribing Link Workers with a step-by-step process for building relationships with one another.
In November, NASP worked with The Good Faith Partnership to convene a roundtable discussion at the House of Lords with leaders from different faiths and health leaders.
The conversation focused on how this integration could take place, particularly through securing shared investment funds for faith groups, co-locating healthcare services into faith buildings, and integrating faith groups into the NHS 10-year healthcare plan.
There is now robust evidence that social prescribing is an impactful, inclusive and cost effective approach, and it should play a significant role in delivering the government's aims for greater preventative and community-based healthcare. There are valuable and untapped assets in communities across the UK which should be better connected to the health system, and social prescribing should be available in every clinical NHS pathway to enable this. This report provides direction for how we can connect the great community work of faith groups into our health service in order to promote the wellbeing of local communities.
Faith groups are continuing a beautiful, centuries-old tradition of caring for your neighbour. They are delivering front line activities that will play a key role in shifting the focus of our health service from hospital to community, and sickness to prevention in the coming years.
I welcome this report from Theos, which asks the right questions about how we can link faith groups into the system to provide partnership and support.
This report highlights the essential work already being done by faith groups, and offers practical recommendations and advice to health bodies and faith groups to work more closely together in social prescribing. I hope that it will prompt further collaborative work at neighbourhood, place and system level to work towards interconnected, resilient and healthy communities.
There can often be a disconnect between health and faith. Yet, as we have set out in this report, linking faith groups into healthcare through social prescribing can improve the wellbeing of individuals. Therefore, relationship-building between faith and health at the level of ‘neighbourhoods’, ‘places’ and ‘systems’ is essential.
