Generali UK Employee Benefits | Social prescribing and its role in back to work support

By Tracey Ward, Head of Business Development & Marketing at Generali UK Employee Benefits

The UK government sees a strong place for social prescribing, also known as community referral, as part of its plans to help the long-term sick get back to, or stay in, work. And rightly so. It’s an aspect to early intervention – preventing absences becoming long-term issues – that Vocational Rehabilitation has long-considered as part of its person-centred, or biopsychosocial, approach.

However, unless an employer has access to Vocational Rehabilitation – either through a Group Income Protection arrangement, or standalone – it’s easy to overlook the social aspect, and/or to dismiss it as the responsibility of the individual.

But, considering the benefits to business of a sustainable approach to return to work – and the role of social in that – it’s arguably the responsibility of the employer to help facilitate such opportunities too.