Table 1 Characteristics of the included studies

Carnes et al., 2017 [7]

i) To assess the effect of service on mental well-being and primary health care resource use and ii) To assess whether the service could be implemented as intended

Mixed methods approach

22 primary care general practices in London, UK

487 patients in GPs who were frequent attenders and, or socially isolated. People were not referred if they were in acute crisis, at risk to self and/or others, had uncontrolled addictions or mental health problems

GP referred the patients to a social prescribing coordinator

Moffatt et al., 2017 [11]

To describe the experiences of patients with long-term conditions involved in the link worker social prescribing programme

Qualitative study

Inner city areas in West Newcastle, UK (Most socioeconomically deprived areas)

30 patients aged 40–74 years with one or more long term conditions

GP, practice nurse, and healthcare assistants referred to a trained link worker

Mistry et al., 2023 [16]

To explore the feasibility and acceptability of involving Bilingual Community Navigators (BCNs) in the general practice setting in Australia

Mixed-method design

Sydney, Australia

95 patients attending the general practices; 3 practice staffs; and 3 trained community health workers (BCNs)

GP referred patients to the navigator

Wildman & Wildman 2021 [17]

To determine whether a UK’s NHS Community Health Worker social prescribing program was associated with improved HbA1c levels among type 2

diabetes patients

Cohort study

High socioeconomic deprivation areas in Northeast England

8086 adults aged 40 to 74 years with type 2 diabetes

Primary care practitioner referred the patient to a link worker(CHW)

Tierney, Wong & Mahtani 2019 [18]

To explore how 'care navigation' is interpreted and currently implemented by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in England

Cross-sectional survey

All clinical commissioning groups England

147 CCGs who provided info on care navigation

Social referral medium varied and mostly included self-transfers by patients or referrals by healthcare professionals (GPs), and trained receptionists. In some CCGs, multidisciplinary teams like accident & emergencies workers, hospitals, voluntary and community sectors, and others like police, fire brigades, ambulance services, libraries, pop-up clinics in supermarkets, rehabilitation teams, dementia teams, mental health teams, carers and family members made the referrals

Kiely et al. 2021 [19]

To test the effectiveness of primary care-based link workers providing social prescribing in improving health outcomes for people with multimorbidity

Pragmatic study

General practices in deprived areas in Ireland

12 patients with multimorbidity who attend general practices in deprived areas in Ireland. 6 patients, 1 link worker and 2 GPs included in the evaluation of trial’s acceptability and feasibility

Patients were referred to the link worker by the GPs

Gibson et al., 2021 [20]

To explore the complex social contexts in which social prescribing is delivered

Qualitative

Ethnically and socially mixed urban area of North of England

Four clients aged between 40 and 74 years with at least one of eight qualifying long-term health conditions from primary care

Patients were referred by their GPs to Ways to Wellness program

Frostick & Bertotti 2021 [21]

To identify the training, skills and experience of social prescribing Link Workers, working with patients with long-term conditions

Qualitative study

Three social prescribing schemes based within London and the southeast of England

13 experienced link workers actively working on the social prescribing scheme and had been there for six months or more

Referrals were made by GPs

Hanlon et al., 2021 [22]

To explore the utility of self-determination theory in improving well-being by connecting patients to appropriate community resources

Qualitative study

General practices based on socioeconomically deprived areas of Glasgow, Scotland

12 patients with physical, psychological, or social problems that the GPs or practice nurse felt might benefit from seeing the Community Link Practitioners (CLPs)

General practitioners or practice nurse referred patients to CLPs. Also, some patients self-referred to CLPs

Morris et al., 2022 [23]

To explore how people with LTCs managed their health and well-being under social distancing restrictions and self-isolation during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

Qualitative study

Northeast England (ethnically diverse urban locality including urban fringes)

44 people with one or more long-term conditions who were already part of a social prescribing intervention evaluation (Wildman et al., 2019, Moffatt et al., 2019 and Gibson et al., 2021)

Patients were referred by their primary care practitioner to Ways to Wellness program and assigned to a trained link worker

Morris et al., 2022 [24]

To describe changes to the social prescribing service during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

Qualitative study

Ethnically diverse urban locality (including urban fringes) in Northeast England

44 community-dwelling adults aged 40–74 with at least one of the following long-term conditions: diabetes type 1 and 2, heart failure, coronary heart disease, epilepsy, osteoporosis, asthma, and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with or without anxiety and/or depression. Additionally, 5 link workers and 8 service managerial staff

Patients were referred by their GPs to Ways to Wellness program and assigned to a link worker

Wildman et al., 2019 [25]

To explore experiences of social prescribing among people with long term conditions

Qualitative study

Socioeconomically deprived area of Northeast England

24 individual aged 40 to 74 years with long-term conditions who were users of the link worker social prescribing service

The primary care practitioner referred the patient to a link worker

Chng et al., 2021 [26]

To explore the implementation process of social prescription approach involving primary care-based 'link workers'

Qualitative study

Seven general practices in deprived areas of Glasgow, Scotland over two years period

Participants were practice staff with responsibility for leading the Link Worker Programme (lead General Practitioners, Community Link Practitioners, and practice managers) and community organisation workers identified by Community Link Practitioners. Number of participants varied in different phases

Referrals were made by General Practitioners

Hazeldine et.al., 2021 [27]

To describe the experiences of early implementation of link worker social prescribing; to assess how this series of relationships functions; and identify the key barriers and facilitators experienced on the ground

Qualitative study

Southwest of England

11 link workers, 2 link worker managers and 1 counsellor

GPs referred patients to link workers

Wildman et al., 2019 [28]

To explore link workers self-definitions of their roles in social prescribing and self-identified skills and qualities necessary for effective client linkage

Qualitative study

Social prescribing scheme in a socioeconomically deprived area of Northeast England

15 participants, aged 40 to 74 years, with long-term conditions who were SP service users participated in FGD

Patients were referred to the CLP by GPs, practice staff or could self-refer