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Prescribing Paradigms: Understanding General Practitioner Inclinations Towards Medical and Social Prescribing
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Julie Barnett ,
Estelle Corbett ,
Ruth Barden,
Barbara Kasperzyk-Hordern ,
Becki Hafner
Health & Social Care in the Community, Volume: 2024, Issue: 1
Swansea University Author:
Becki Hafner
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Copyright © 2024 Scott Watkins et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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DOI (Published version): 10.1155/hsc/7964343
Abstract
General practitioners (GPs) face complex decisions when choosing between prescribing medication or referring patients to social prescriptions. Increasing awareness of overprescribing and the risks of polypharmacy are a key driver of patient-centred preventative approaches to healthcare. One such app...
| Published in: | Health & Social Care in the Community |
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| ISSN: | 0966-0410 1365-2524 |
| Published: |
Wiley
2024
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68432 |
| Abstract: |
General practitioners (GPs) face complex decisions when choosing between prescribing medication or referring patients to social prescriptions. Increasing awareness of overprescribing and the risks of polypharmacy are a key driver of patient-centred preventative approaches to healthcare. One such approach, increasingly common in the United Kingdom, is social prescribing (SP). GPs have a central role in prescribing medication or referring to a social prescription. Following a thematic analysis of data from interviews with 12 GPs, this study used the concept of mindlines to frame a consideration of their reasoning about the appropriateness of social prescriptions as adjuncts to or alternatives for medical prescriptions. We identified seven considerations that shaped their decision-making process. These factors spanned the patient’s socioeconomic circumstances, the severity of their symptoms and their expectations. Additionally, GPs factored in their time constraints, the extent to which medical options had been exhausted, and finally issues related to the SP system itself—specifically, the integration of SP workflows in GP practices and resource constraints. SP is, in theory at least, a part of the healthcare system that offers the possibility of improved health both for people and the environment. Our consideration of the role of the GP in this suggests that the challenges for design and evaluation of SP interventions that result in a reduction in medical prescriptions are considerable. |
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| College: |
Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences |
| Funders: |
Tis work was supported by the University of Bath EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account and Wessex Water Services Ltd (Project nos.: EP/EP/K503897/1 and EP/R51164X/1). |
| Issue: |
1 |