Aggar Christina, Teunisse Alessandra K, Bissett Michelle, Freak-Poli Rosanne, Baker J R
Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University, Gold Coast Airport, Terminal Dr, Bilinga, QLD, 4225, Australia.
Northern NSW Local Health District, Lismore, Australia.
BMC Prim Care. 2025 Sep 2;26(1):276. doi: 10.1186/s12875-025-02978-9.
Informal carers often experience compromised mental and physical wellbeing due to their caring responsibilities. While social prescribing shows promise in supporting various populations, evidence for its effectiveness in supporting carers is limited. This study assessed the impact of a social prescribing program on health-related quality of life and other wellbeing measures among Australian adult carers.
Analysis of de-identified data was conducted using pre- and post-intervention measures from two social prescribing programs in New South Wales, Australia (December 2021-August 2024). Participants were adults who self-presented or were referred by their GP for either mental ill-health or chronic disease management. Of 821 eligible participants, 93 (11.3%) were identified as carers based on their social prescriptions and case note review. The intervention involved link workers co-designing individualised plans with participants over 12 weeks, providing referrals to community services and supports. Outcomes included quality of life, mental wellbeing, self-reported health, psychological distress, and healthcare utilisation. Statistical analysis included paired t-tests for pre-post comparisons.
Carers received significantly more social prescriptions than non-carers (mean difference = 2.05, = .002), particularly in mental and emotional wellbeing (54%) and physical wellbeing (45%) domains. Following the intervention, carers showed significant improvements in quality of life ( < .001), mental wellbeing ( < .001), self-reported health ( < .001), and psychological distress ( < .001). GP visits reduced significantly ( = .002), while hospital visits showed non-significant reductions. Link workers primarily engaged with carers via phone (98%), followed by internet (80%) and face-to-face (67%) contact.
Social prescribing appears to be an effective intervention for supporting carers’ wellbeing and reducing healthcare utilisation. The high uptake of phone-based support suggests potential for scalable remote delivery. Future research with larger samples is needed to examine program benefits across diverse demographic groups and varying intensities of caring responsibilities.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12875-025-02978-9.
非正式护理人员常常因其护理职责而身心健康受损。虽然社会处方在支持各类人群方面显示出前景，但关于其对护理人员有效性的证据有限。本研究评估了一项社会处方计划对澳大利亚成年护理人员健康相关生活质量及其他幸福指标的影响。
使用澳大利亚新南威尔士州两个社会处方计划（2021年12月至2024年8月）干预前后的测量数据进行去识别化分析。参与者为因心理健康问题或慢性病管理自行前来或由其全科医生转诊的成年人。在821名符合条件的参与者中，根据他们的社会处方和病例记录审查，有93名（11.3%）被确定为护理人员。干预措施包括联络人员在12周内与参与者共同设计个性化计划，提供转介至社区服务和支持。结果包括生活质量、心理健康、自我报告的健康状况、心理困扰和医疗保健利用率。统计分析包括用于前后比较的配对t检验。
护理人员收到的社会处方显著多于非护理人员（平均差异=2.05，P=0.002），尤其是在心理和情绪健康（54%）和身体健康（45%）领域。干预后，护理人员在生活质量（P<0.001）、心理健康（P<0.001）、自我报告的健康状况（P<0.001）和心理困扰（P<0.001）方面有显著改善。全科医生就诊次数显著减少（P=0.002），而住院就诊次数减少不显著。联络人员主要通过电话（98%）与护理人员联系，其次是互联网（80%）和面对面（67%）接触。
社会处方似乎是支持护理人员幸福和减少医疗保健利用率的有效干预措施。基于电话的支持的高接受度表明了可扩展远程服务的潜力。需要进行更大样本的未来研究，以检验该计划在不同人口群体和不同护理责任强度中的益处。
在线版本包含可在10.1186/s12875-025-02978-9获取的补充材料。
