Social prescribing enables health professionals to refer people to a range of non-clinical activities. Following lockdown measures, many people have felt the impact both mentally and physically. Social prescribing has therefore been on the rise to tackle these concerns, with many being referred to local gyms and leisure clubs. That means your business should be doing its utmost to aid this process.
How does social prescribing work?
Should a visit to the GP reveal concerns regarding health and wellbeing, this may result in social prescribing via a link worker. These special individuals work in partnership with GP practices and referral agencies to uncover the issues affecting a client’s wellbeing. Link workers then use their intimate, local knowledge to connect clients to community groups and leisure clubs to assist them.
Spa and fitness professionals regularly impart guidance and information to help clients, making them ideal candidates to take on social prescribing responsibilities. As referred clients will have specific required needs, personal trainers will often make for an ideal point of contact for a link worker. Therefore, it is vital to make sure staff are open and prepared to take on the responsibilities of the community.
How can I prepare for social prescribing?
To ensure particular staff are prepared for social prescribed clients, make sure they know how to handle sensitive matters such as mental health. There are numerous qualifications available to upskill your staff in areas such as health and wellbeing, such as Gov.uk’s recommended free interactive session on All Our Health: Social Prescribing with e-LfH. This is designed to help educate those wishing to learn more about the topic.
Active IQ, one of the UK’s leading awarding bodies for the active leisure, learning and wellbeing sector, is one such example. The Active IQ Level 1 Award in Influencing Health and Wellbeing helps learners understand the fundamentals of health, an active lifestyle and their relationship with wellbeing. Beyond this, the Active IQ Level 2 Award in Health and Community Activation offers information on behavioural changes with relation to wellbeing.
As for spa therapists, the Institute of Apprenticeships & Technical Education also offer a qualification that can help too. Introduced earlier in 2021, the level 3 in Wellbeing and Holistic Therapist Apprenticeship is designed to equip therapists with the skills to support clients with physical, emotional and mental wellbeing through treatments.
How do I tailor my software for social prescribing?
The right software can help set up the components needed to support staff and clients alike. Like with any client, a consultation should be set up first and foremost to gauge their needs. Any health concerns can then be noted down in the system and catered to accordingly.
Once your staff have an understanding of the client’s needs, a suitable plan of action can be created. For clients in need of a more social experience, class activities can help with this. Through setting a class for a regular time and setting the maximum number of occupants, you can create an environment that is suitable for referred clients in need of a more social timetable.
It is important to have a system that is tailored to each client involved with social prescribing. As such, some may not favour the more social environment, which is where a personal trainer may step in for more one-on-one sessions. No matter what the case, it is worth creating a unique pricing structure so that affected clients have a discounted rate for visiting. After all, it is vital to ensure they are comfortable with visiting to help their development.
Core by Premier Software® caters to social prescribing and affected clients with features such as class activities, client card types, automatic pricing and more. For more information on what Core can do for your business, call +44 (0)1543 466580 or book a free presentation below.
To let link workers know you are open to social prescribing, you can also reach out to the Social Prescribing Network for more.
