Prospects and Aspirations for Workforce Training and Education in Social Prescribing
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methods
2.1. Qualitative Interviews with Key Stakeholders
2.2. Semi-Structured Interviews
2.3. Quantitative Survey
3. Results
3.1. Qualitative Findings
3.2. The Social Prescribing Coordinator Role
“Our project is specifically linked to GPs surgeries…”
“Some are based in Primary Care…”(Interviewee 6)
“My formal job title is Programme director”(Interviewee 3)
“I have been doing that [Social Prescribing] since about 2003 so about 16 years”(Interviewee 1)
3.3. Funding for Social Prescribing Roles
“Yes, the project is fully funded by the Welsh Government. The salaries and all the related costs”(Interviewee 2)
“What I would like to see is, that the grant funding becomes core funding so that people have more security in their roles and will therefore develop in their roles”(Interviewee 3)
3.4. Peer Support for Link Workers
“We have regular supervisions, and we have team meetings on a monthly basis”(Interviewee 4)
“Our closest GP surgery we’ve been working with for 25 years on Social Prescribing we’ve always been here as a charity offering Social Prescribing it just didn’t have the buzz name”(Interviewee 6)
3.5. Training for Link Workers and Social Prescribing Coordinators
“We do the [training] around the Future Generations Act… We try to encourage them to do Dementia awareness training… we’ve got a team that like doing different things”(Interviewee 1)
“I have links with [a local] University and they have a Link Worker course and they gave me 2 free courses … and then [our research funder] developed its own course for the Link Workers”(Interviewee 2)
“Training [at a local University] is available and learning on the job”(Interviewee 3)
“The ABCD which is the Asset Based Community Development training is one of the main ones [training] staff have been required to undertake… and also a project management qualification such as the Prince 2”(Interviewee 4)
“The referral staff [some of them] have had motivational interview training and everyone has making every contact count from Public Health Wales… they also need to have completed safeguarding training of vulnerable adults…”(Interviewee 5)
“We’ve got a training for Elemental [software] training next week”(Interviewee 6)
“The field of Social Prescribing is so broad… there’s something missing in between a vocational qualification and making every contact count, just some training around how to ascertain what is important to people, what would be of benefit and make the links of what is going on locally… and deal with any barriers that come up”(Interviewee 5)
3.6. Quantitative Survey Findings
3.7. Contingent Valuation Results
4. Discussion
4.1. Strengths
4.2. Limitations
5. Recommendations
- For future social prescribing interventions, training requirements should be included in the funding bids to ensure that link workers receive adequate training to carry out their role.
- Training for social prescribing link workers should be made available in their own local areas.
- The findings are based on the responses of the (n = 52) LWs who completed the questionnaires to state that they are motivated to undertake training to improve their skills and knowledge. This research study demonstrates LWs’ attitudes, preferences and values indicated by their WTP for future training. The results also indicate that there is a benefits transfer on the average WTP estimate of GBP 58 from this study, suggesting a proposed change to the provision of proposed training for LWs.
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Job Titles | n | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Community Connector | 27 | 50% |
Wellbeing Officer | 8 | 15% |
Link Worker | 7 | 13% |
Exercise Instructor | 6 | 11% |
Local Asset Coordinator | 6 | 11% |
Total | 54 | 100% |
Highest Level of Education | Percentage |
---|---|
General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) | 4% |
A Level/Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) | 30% |
Undergraduate Degree | 43% |
Master’s Degree | 23% |
Total | 100% |
Payment Ladder Bid Vectors | n | Respondents’ WTP Percentage |
---|---|---|
GBP 0 | 21 | 39% |
GBP 10 | 6 | 11% |
GBP 50 | 15 | 28% |
GBP 100 | 3 | 5% |
GBP 150 | 7 | 13% |
GBP 350 | 1 | 2% |
GBP 600 | 1 | 2% |
Total | 54 | 100% |
Average WTP | GBP 58 | |
Median WTP | GBP 30 |
Cost of Living | n | Percentage |
---|---|---|
I have to be careful about money | 33 | 61% |
I am able to manage without much difficulty | 14 | 26% |
I find it a strain to get from week to week | 4 | 7% |
I am quite comfortably off | 3 | 6% |
Total | 54 | 100% |
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Share and Cite
Makanjuola, A.; Lynch, M.; Spencer, L.H.; Edwards, R.T. Prospects and Aspirations for Workforce Training and Education in Social Prescribing. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 6549. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20166549
Makanjuola A, Lynch M, Spencer LH, Edwards RT. Prospects and Aspirations for Workforce Training and Education in Social Prescribing. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023; 20(16):6549. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20166549
Chicago/Turabian StyleMakanjuola, Abraham, Mary Lynch, Llinos Haf Spencer, and Rhiannon Tudor Edwards. 2023. "Prospects and Aspirations for Workforce Training and Education in Social Prescribing" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20, no. 16: 6549. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20166549