Hyogo Prefectural Tamba Medical Center, Tamba, Japan.
Professional College of Arts and Tourism, Toyooka, Japan.
J Prim Care Community Health. 2023 Jan-Dec;14:21501319231181877. doi: 10.1177/21501319231181877.
INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVES: Social prescribing aims to improve health and well-being by connecting individuals with mental health, housing, and loneliness issues to informal services and support. This approach connects individuals to activities and services in their community to fulfill their practical, social, and emotional needs. However, no reports of community libraries being prescribed as a place to be referred through social prescribing were observed in the literature and the impact of community libraries on community residents and communities in social prescribing. The aim of this study was to identify the functions of a community library operated by medical and social professionals in the social prescribing initiative, its functions, and its impact on community residents and communities.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the users of the Daikai Bunko Library, a community library in Toyooka City, Japan. The library was established by a primary care physician and community residents as a place where visitors can stay and use it as a library, a bookstore, a café, and a consultation place. Interviews were recorded, and the verbatim transcript was analyzed using the Steps for Coding and Theorization.
Ten individuals participated. The theoretical description of the interview texts revealed 11 categories as the function of the library and its effect on the individuals and the community: a place to stay, attractive space design, diverse accessibility, choosability of various roles, consultation function, social support, empowerment, mutual trust, formation of connections across generations/attributes, co-creation, and social impact.
We found that a community library run by medical and social professionals was a useful social prescribing site and had various effects on the community residents who used it. Various functions of the community library, such as consultation functions and attractive space design, may lead to effects on local individuals providing social support and empowerment, with social impacts such as co-creation and formation of connections to the local community.
介绍/目的：社会处方旨在通过将有心理健康、住房和孤独问题的个人与非正规服务和支持联系起来，改善健康和幸福感。这种方法将个人与社区中的活动和服务联系起来，以满足他们的实际、社会和情感需求。然而，在文献中没有观察到将社区图书馆作为通过社会处方转介的地方的报道，也没有观察到社区图书馆对社区居民和社区在社会处方中的影响。本研究的目的是确定由医疗和社会专业人员运营的社区图书馆在社会处方倡议中的作用、功能及其对社区居民和社区的影响。
对日本丰冈市大介文库（Daikai Bunko Library）的用户进行了半结构化访谈。该图书馆由一名初级保健医生和社区居民建立，是一个访客可以停留并将其用作图书馆、书店、咖啡馆和咨询场所的地方。对访谈进行了录音，并使用编码和理论化步骤对逐字记录进行了分析。
有 10 人参加。访谈文本的理论描述揭示了图书馆的 11 个功能及其对个人和社区的影响：停留的地方、有吸引力的空间设计、多样化的可及性、各种角色的可选择性、咨询功能、社会支持、赋权、相互信任、跨越代际/属性的联系形成、共同创造和社会影响。
我们发现，由医疗和社会专业人员运营的社区图书馆是一个有用的社会处方场所，对使用它的社区居民有各种影响。社区图书馆的各种功能，如咨询功能和有吸引力的空间设计，可能会对提供社会支持和赋权的当地个人产生影响，具有共同创造和与当地社区联系的社会影响。
