{ "abstract": "The number of people living with dementia and related costs continue to grow worldwide. Although generally associated with memory difficulties, non-cognitive symptoms of dementia are common and usually stem from unmet needs. Evidence emerging suggests that social prescribing improves the wellbeing of people living with dementia. This study explored adaptations to key elements of social prescribing for people living with dementia, as well as barriers to and enablers of positive experiences among people living with dementia and service providers. The qualitative study engaged people living with dementia (n = 8), carers (n = 9) and service providers (n = 17) involved in social prescribing through primary care. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and the essential ingredients of social prescribing schemes comprised the initial organising categories for template analysis. The final template included four integrative themes: unique challenges of dementia; interpretations of the social prescribing role; integration of social prescribing into dementia care; and evaluation, improvement and sustainability. Positive workplace cultures and skills in dementia care and support enabled multidisciplinary collaborations and the successful adaptations of the generic social prescribing model to improve the experiences among people living with dementia and service providers. Resistance to and confusion about the social prescribing link workers’ role, and inappropriate referrals were barriers to positive experiences and bottom-up feedback. Primary care networks’ agreements on core outcomes within proactive systems of dementia care and support may promote meaningful bottom-up feedback on the effectiveness of social prescribing for people living with dementia, guiding service improvements.", "abstract_shown": true, "affiliations": [ "Centre for Clinical and Community Applications of Health Psychology, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom", "Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom", "School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom", "Health and Social Care Workforce Research Unit, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom", "Meaningful Measures Ltd, Bristol, United Kingdom", "Geller Institute of Ageing and Memory, University of West London, London, United Kingdom", "Dementia Action Alliance, Shropshire, United Kingdom", "Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom", "Faculty of Sciences, University of Hull, Hull, United Kingdom", "Health and Community Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom", "NIHR Health Technology Research Centre Sustainable Innovation, Exeter, United Kingdom" ], "article_type": "Research Article", "arxiv": null, "author_total": 16, "authors": [ { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Jenny Corser", "orcid": "0000-0003-1491-1801" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Amy Rathbone" }, { "affs": [ 0, 2 ], "name": "Anne Martin", "orcid": "0000-0003-4225-6998" }, { "affs": [ 0, 2 ], "name": "Hannah Barker" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Kritika Samsi", "orcid": "0000-0001-5961-6086" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Marie Polley" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Lucy Clark" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Euan Sadler" }, { "affs": [ 5 ], "name": "Emma Wolverson" }, { "affs": [ 6 ], "name": "George Rook" }, { "affs": [ 7 ], "name": "Louise Robinson" }, { "affs": [ 8 ], "name": "Esme Moniz-Cook" }, { "affs": [ 9 ], "name": "Louise Allan" }, { "affs": [ 9, 10 ], "name": "Chris Fox" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Jane Cross" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Katherine Bradbury", "orcid": "0000-0001-5513-7571" } ], "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/excxdrcpjd9a0.bib", "cited_by": 0, "doi": "10.1371/journal.pone.0361620", "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13712614/", "id": "excxdrcpjd9a0", "issns": [ "1932-6203" ], "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0361620", "language": "en", "licence": "CC-BY-4.0", "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0", "licence_source": "article", "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "metadata_licence": null, "native_subjects": [ [ "heading", "Behavioral and Social Aspects of Health" ], [ "heading", "Communications" ], [ "heading", "Dementia" ], [ "heading", "England" ], [ "heading", "Europe" ], [ "heading", "European Union" ], [ "heading", "General Practitioners" ], [ "heading", "Geographical locations" ], [ "heading", "Health Care" ], [ "heading", "Health Care Providers" ], [ "heading", "Medical Personnel" ], [ "heading", "Medicine and Health Sciences" ], [ "heading", "Mental Health and Psychiatry" ], [ "heading", "Neurology" ], [ "heading", "Nurses" ], [ "heading", "People and Places" ], [ "heading", "People and places" ], [ "heading", "Physicians" ], [ "heading", "Population Groupings" ], [ "heading", "Primary Care" ], [ "heading", "Professions" ], [ "heading", "Public and Occupational Health" ], [ "heading", "Qualitative Studies" ], [ "heading", "Research Article" ], [ "heading", "Research Design" ], [ "heading", "Research and Analysis Methods" ], [ "heading", "Social Communication" ], [ "heading", "Social Sciences" ], [ "heading", "Sociology" ], [ "heading", "United Kingdom" ], [ "openalex", "2738|Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Health care/Health care providers/Nurses" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Health care/Health care providers/Physicians/General practitioners" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Health care/Patients" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Health care/Primary care" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Mental health and psychiatry/Dementia" ], [ "plos", "/Medicine and health sciences/Neurology/Dementia" ], [ "plos", "/People and places/Geographical locations/Europe/European Union/United Kingdom/England" ], [ "plos", "/People and places/Population groupings/Professions/Medical personnel/Nurses" ], [ "plos", "/People and places/Population groupings/Professions/Medical personnel/Physicians/General practitioners" ], [ "plos", "/Research and analysis methods/Research design/Qualitative studies" ], [ "plos", "/Social sciences/Sociology/Communications/Social communication" ] ], "openalex": "W7223825428", "pdf_url": "https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0361620&type=printable", "pmcid": "PMC13712614", "pmid": "42945217", "published": "2026-10-27", "publisher": "Public Library of Science", "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/excxdrcpjd9a0.ris", "sources": [ { "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:17Z", "native_id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0361620", "source": "plos", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0361620" }, { "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:23:09Z", "native_id": "PMC13712614", "source": "pmc", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0361620" } ], "subjects": [ { "field": "medicine", "origin": "heading:Public and Occupational Health", "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health" }, { "field": "medicine", "origin": "plos:neurology", "subfield": "neurology" }, { "field": "medicine", "origin": "plos:mental health and psychiatry", "subfield": "psychiatry" } ], "title": "A qualitative exploration of variations in social prescribing in primary care for people living with dementia in England: Barriers and enablers to positive service experiences", "title_text": "A qualitative exploration of variations in social prescribing in primary care for people living with dementia in England: Barriers and enablers to positive service experiences", "type": "peer-reviewed", "updated_at": "2026-10-31T12:23:09Z", "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/excxdrcpjd9a0", "venue": "PLOS One", "versions": [] }