Social prescribing is an increasingly popular approach to promoting health and well-being, by addressing the wider determinants of health such as physical inactivity, social isolation and financial insecurity. Social prescribing link workers (SPs) connect people to local, non-clinical services. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England aims to recruit 1,000 SPs across England by 2021. Understanding the role of SPs, including challenging aspects of the role and the types of training and support needed by SPs is crucial to optimising the effectiveness of social prescribing. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with nine SPs from five NHS and voluntary sector organisations in London to explore the role of SPs and identify SP training and support needs. Interviews were analysed thematically and three key themes emerged for which SPs needed particular support: defining and promoting their role; supporting clients with complex needs and coping with the emotional demands of their role. SP perceptions of training and future training needs is presented as a fourth theme. Most SPs felt that the initial training received for their role did not prepare them for the most demanding aspects of their roles. The findings of this study support the assertion that the social prescribing link worker role is complex and challenging. SPs are required to have in-depth knowledge of local services, which is built over time and makes retention in the role of high importance. Steps have been taken to develop online resources to support SPs, however, there may be a need for more comprehensive training, especially in mental health. SPs benefit from access to peer or one-to-one support to help them manage the emotional demands of the role and could benefit from the formation of local networks, especially for SPs working in isolation.

中文翻译：

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“工作描述听起来简单得多”：一项定性研究，探讨了社会处方链接工作者的作用及其培训和支持需求（2020 年）

通过解决更广泛的健康决定因素，如缺乏身体活动、社会孤立和经济不安全，社会处方是一种越来越受欢迎的促进健康和福祉的方法。社会处方链接工作人员 (SP) 将人们与当地的非临床服务联系起来。作为 NHS 长期计划的一部分，NHS England 的目标是到 2021 年在英格兰招募 1,000 名 SP。了解 SP 的角色，包括角色的挑战性方面以及 SP 所需的培训和支持类型对于优化 SP 的有效性至关重要社会处方。对来自伦敦 5 个 NHS 和志愿部门组织的 9 个 SP 进行了半结构化定性访谈，以探索 SP 的作用并确定 SP 培训和支持需求。访谈按主题进行分析，出现了 SP 需要特别支持的三个关键主题：定义和促进他们的角色；支持有复杂需求的客户，并应对他们角色的情感需求。SP 对培训和未来培训需求的看法作为第四个主题提出。大多数 SP 认为，为其角色接受的初始培训并没有让他们为他们角色中最苛刻的方面做好准备。本研究的结果支持社会处方链接工作者角色复杂且具有挑战性的断言。SP 需要对本地服务有深入的了解，这些知识是随着时间的推移而建立的，并使得保留其角色非常重要。已采取措施开发在线资源以支持 SP，但是，可能需要更全面的培训，尤其是在心理健康方面。SP 受益于获得对等或一对一支持，以帮助他们管理角色的情感需求，并可以从本地网络的形成中受益，特别是对于孤立工作的 SP。