Guides for facilitating the implementation and evaluation of social prescribing: lessons from the "Access to Resources in the Community" model.

Abstract

Social prescribing (SP) embodies a comprehensive approach to addressing the social determinants of health. Access to Resources in the Community (ARC) is an innovative SP program offering bilingual services that involves a single point of entry for health and social needs and introduces practice changes to assist primary care providers in engaging patients, along with a nonclinical lay navigator who supports patients in accessing relevant community resources. The ARC team has created a SP toolkit offering practical guidance for setting up, implementing, monitoring the progress of and evaluating SP programs. The four ARC guides can be easily customized for application in diverse practice and research settings.