Green Social Prescribing in practice: a case study of Walsall, UK

Sun, Q, Loveday, M, Nwe, S, Morris, N and Boxall, E (2023) 'Green Social Prescribing in practice: a case study of Walsall, UK.' International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20 (17). e6708.

[img]
Preview
Text
15728.pdf - Published Version
CC BY 4.0.

Download (859kB) | Preview
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20176708

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of Green Social Prescribing (GSP) in Walsall, a medium-sized urban area located in the West Midlands, UK. GSP is a means of enabling health professionals to refer people to a range of local non-clinical nature-based activities, e.g., community gardening and conservation volunteering. As a new practice to address multiple challenges in health and sustainability, GSP has been promoted by the UK government and the NHS in the past few years. There is as yet limited evidence and knowledge about how this approach is implemented at a local level. This paper addresses this gap of knowledge, by exploring how GSP is implemented in Walsall as a case study. Based on extensive engagement and research activities with the local partners to collect data, this paper reveals the local contexts of GSP, the referral pathways, and people’s lived experience, discussing the challenges, barriers, and opportunities in delivering GSP at the local level. This study suggests that a more collaborative and genuine place-based approach is essential, and alongside GSP, investment into infrastructure is needed to move the health paradigm further from ‘prevention’ to ‘promotion’ so that more people can benefit from what nature can offer.

Item Type: Article
Keywords: Green Social Prescribing, Social Prescribing, place-based thinking, case study, link worker, Walsall
Divisions: Bath School of Design
Date Deposited: 25 Sep 2023 08:54
Last Modified: 25 Sep 2023 08:54
ISSN: 1660-4601
URI / Page ID: https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/15728
Request a change to this item or report an issue Request a change to this item or report an issue
Update item (repository staff only) Update item (repository staff only)