Green social prescribing through link workers

Domain XV · Nature, philosophy, social & rites of passage · 2020 · England

What it is

Green social prescribing (GSP) is not a psychotherapy. It is a referral pathway inside social prescribing: a social prescribing link worker (SPLW) or another trusted professional has a "what matters to you" conversation with a person, agrees a simple personalised plan in the person's own words, and…

Format

• Stage 1. Identification and referral. Goal: get the person to a link worker or straight to a provider. Routes include GPs and other NHS staff, local authority services, pharmacies, housing, job centres, VCSE groups, community leaders and self-referral. In the evaluation, self-referral was the most…
• Stage 2. "What matters to you" conversation and personalised plan. Goal: understand the person's priorities and agree a simple care and support plan, recorded in their own words. Format: one-to-one with the SPLW, typically 6–12 contacts over about three months, flexibly. Move on when a nature-based…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• How change is thought to happen. In the programme's own model, benefit comes from the whole journey: a person-centred conversation, active connection and support to attend, then the nature-based session itself, which is expected to build nature, social and occupational connection and reduce…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Referral sitting unanswered; agree a date to check. Working if contact is made.
• Shame about money or clothing; barriers left unspoken. Working if each named barrier has a plan.
• Avoidance dressed as "not ready yet"; use graded steps. Working if the client can picture arriving.
• Token offers; mistrust of NHS-linked schemes. Working if the client feels the group is for people like them.
• All-or-nothing goals; self-criticism after a missed session. Working if attendance happens and is discussed openly.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.