Social prescribing and type 2 diabetes prevention

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is heavily influenced by social risk factors, such as unemployment or lack of social support, but little is known about how these might be tackled by NHS prevention programmes. Social prescribing (SP) is a new way of supporting patients in NHS primary care, focusing on their 'social' as well as ‘lifestyle’ needs. It involves linking patients with services provided by the voluntary and community sector, such as welfare advice, legal support, as well as lifestyle programmes, including healthy eating, physical activity or weight management initiatives. Activities are provided locally and tend to be more accessible and culturally appropriate to the local population.

This proposal builds on preliminary research undertaken as part of my PhD in a multi-ethnic, socioeconomically deprived inner-city borough in east London, UK. My PhD work showed that patients at high risk of T2D with greatest health and social vulnerability (typically from a minoritized ethnic background and lowest socioeconomic status) were more likely to be referred into SP than into the existing NHS Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Programme (also known as NDPP). This suggests that SP may have the potential to deliver T2D prevention activities relevant and available to those in greatest need. This preliminary research sets an ideal platform to now study the following key questions: (1) Are these preliminary findings applicable at a national scale? and (2)What is the role of SP in reducing people’s overall risk of developing T2D?

This study will use a national anonymised dataset of around 8,000,000 people, who reflect a national English population. I will study the reach and equity of access of SP amongst people at high risk of T2D across this population and make comparisons with the existing NHS Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Programme, NDPP. This will allow us to tell whether SP still holds promise for reaching underserved populations at greatest risk. The fellowship will also give me the opportunity to develop a robust and feasible research proposal to compare the effectiveness of SP and NDPP in reducing patients risk of developing T2D in the future.

Amount awarded: £62,000