Health and Community Care Workers' Knowledge and Perceptions of Social Prescribing in Singapore.

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to survey knowledge and perceptions of social prescribing (SP) amongst health and community care workers, and is a cross-sectional online survey conducted in November 2023.

Methods: The survey on basic demographics, awareness, knowledge, and practices of SP was completed by 123 health and community care workers.

Results: The mean age of respondents was 39.0 years. Nearly two-thirds had heard of SP. A lower proportion of acute hospital doctors (55.6%) and nurses (56.8%) had heard of SP compared with primary and subacute care doctors (75.0%). The majority agreed that SP benefits patients' mental health and reduces healthcare utilization. Primary care physicians, community nurses, and active ageing centres were the top three professionals selected as most responsible for SP by survey respondents. The most commonly cited barriers to SP were seniors' reluctance (63.4%), lacking knowledge on how to refer (59.3%), lack of time (44.7%), and cost to seniors (44.7%).

Conclusion: Overall, health and community care workers demonstrated positive attitudes toward SP and were keen to refer patients for SP. However, additional efforts are needed to improve knowledge about how to refer to and provide training on SP.