THE part played by churches and faith groups in “social prescribing” — connecting people to community-based activities to profit their well-being — presents a possible pathway for improving health outcomes, a recent report from the think tank Theos has found.
The report, Creating a Neighbourhood Health Service: The role of churches and faith groups in social prescribing, published on Monday, concludes a 21-month project “to grasp the impact of churches and faith groups in social prescribing”.
“NHS and social care services in England are stretched to breaking point, grappling with record-high demand for GP appointments and secondary care services. Yet, one in five GP appointments will not be for medical reasons, but slightly requests for help with issues like loneliness, housing, or debt,” the researchers say.
“Churches and faith groups not only contribute significantly to social prescribing, offering networks and resources, but with their concentrate on community, relationship and holistic wellbeing, they will play a foundational role in preventative health care.”
More than 50 link employees were surveyed and 37 interviews were conducted over a ten-month period to July 2024 for this latest research. The cohort included healthcare professionals and faith representatives. There were focus groups, and site visits across the country. Case studies highlight the work of church communities in creating social capital.
The report echoes the findings of the National Churches Trust’s report The House of Good: Health, launched last autumn (News, 15 October 2024). This estimated that churches saved the NHS an estimated £8.4 billion annually through the availability of foodbanks, drug- and alcohol-addiction support, mental-health counselling, and youth groups.
The recent research reports that faith groups across the country already host friendly, welcoming, and “referrable” activities. As “anchors of the community”, they will “network and convene, provide resources, buildings and volunteers, and offer pastoral and spiritual care”.
Yet barriers that prevent a more integrated approach between faith and health include communications and administrative challenges: there could be profit in “a model of relationship-building through lively networking, engaged collaboration, and forward planning, unlocking the total potential of faith-based support”, the report says.
“Across the board, we found that health professionals and faith groups alike were positive concerning the suitability of religion group activities for social prescribing, with consensus in any respect levels of the health system that higher relationships between the 2 will help to support more of the people in biggest need.
“Along with other community groups, faith groups not only contribute significantly to local social prescribing networks, but with their concentrate on community, relationship and holistic wellbeing, they will play a foundational role in preventative healthcare through supporting individuals to access the best support early on.”
Recommendations within the report take a multi-level approach to churches’ and faith groups’ working with health-care professionals to construct a more integrated approach to social prescribing as they chime with the aspiration of the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, to show the NHS right into a “neighbourhood health service”.
At the “neighbourhood” level, faith-group activities and services can promote higher community health outcomes through working together more closely, making connections between faith and health, raising awareness, and accompanying patients to faith-based services, the report says. The must hunt down additional funding for such activities can be mentioned.
Through “roundtable discussions” on the “places” level, faith groups, regional church leaders, charities, and Primary Care Network (PCN) clinical directors/Integrated Care Board (ICB) leads can increase understanding and shared goals. This partnership model was evident in other health initiatives resembling the Covid vaccine rollout, and might “encourage preventative strategies locally including placing Social Prescribing Link Workers in churches and employ GP chaplains”, the report says.
The “systems” level involves NHS leaders, the Department of Health and Social Care, the National Academy of Social Prescribing (NASP), and leaders in faith communities’ collaborating “through existing avenues”. Preventative initiatives locally might be co-ordinated though social-prescribing plans. “A ‘Faith Lead’ ought to be created inside NASP to convene national work and recent funding for faith-based activities ought to be unlocked.”
The foreword is by the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally. “There is a faith group present in every community. Indeed, faith observance is higher in areas where deprivation is higher. If we’re serious in the duty of reducing health inequalities, faith groups are essential partners on this work,” she writes.
“As this report sets out, faith groups offer a possibility that primary care alone cannot. I hope that it’ll prompt further collaborative work at neighbourhood, place and system level to work towards interconnected, resilient and healthy communities.”
The value of praxis makes Christians ideal partners, the researchers conclude. “Churches and faith groups have at all times been caring for others as a part of their social outreach to their congregations and wider community. They accomplish that, drawing on Christianity primarily, because at a community level they imagine in ‘loving their neighbour’ as a part of their Christian social motion.”
