Challenges of implementing a social prescription service in the clinic: Social prescribing in the LAMP project

Abstract

The Local Asset Mapping Project (LAMP) aims to develop new models of tertiary healthcare delivery by integrating patient care into a hospital's surrounding community. Current models are unsustainable, in particular due to the ageing demographic shift. To date, LAMP has created a database of almost 3,400 `assets' from part (22km2) of the ambulance catchment of the largest acute hospital in Ireland - an area representing ~120,000 citizens. A clinical software GUI called `Community Health Compass' is presented in this paper which uses this database and could potentially produce `social prescriptions' to patients coming to the hospital. This prescription would direct them to the assets and services in their community, near their postal address, and tailored to their condition and preferences, which could help to improve their health and wellbeing. However, there are a number of social implications and challenges associated with technology-mediated social prescribing, which will need to be considered to ensure the success and uptake of the intervention, while preserving personal choice and ensuring social responsibility. Data sharing, governance, accountability for patients, and community sector capacity are some of the main challenges for implementation of the LAMP model. These challenges and potential approaches to meeting them are presented. Forecasting these challenges is an attempt to proactively explore the issues, so as to develop a future technology-mediated social prescription delivery model that integrates with, and provides for, society's needs while reducing potential negative affects.