Volunteers help with primary and community health care in non-medical roles. However, few published studies focus on volunteer roles in social prescribing.
What we did…
We systematically reviewed published research on how volunteers can support people with diabetes. Our aim was to provide insights for social prescribing practice. We only included randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We also looked for studies which focused on psychological and social support (psychosocial) in line with social prescribing.
What we found…
We found 9 RCTs which used a range of training strategies for volunteers. We found mixed findings for the effect of volunteers for psychosocial outcomes (one study was positive for the intervention group); and behavior outcomes (e.g., three studies were positive for adopting positive health behaviors).
However…
We need more information on how programs are implemented. For example, how are programs delivered and taken up by participants. More information is also needed on volunteer training. It would be helpful to know if there is matching between participants and volunteers, and the impact of the duration (and dose) of the volunteer-based intervention.
Overall, this study offers insights that can inform future research on volunteers, self-management, and social prescribing.
Check out our publication
Iverson et al., A rapid systematic review of the effect of health or peer volunteers for diabetes self-management: Synthesizing evidence to guide social prescribing. PLOS Global Public Health. 2024 Dec 31;4(12):e0004071
