ORCID

Abstract

BackgroundSocial prescribing addresses complex individual health and social needs through person-centered referral from healthcare into community settings, supporting wellbeing and integrated care. While evidence for majority populations continues to expand, no review has yet synthesized evidence specifically for refugee populations, despite this group facing profound social and systemic barriers. As such, this protocol defines the research objectives for a rapid realist review that will identify what approaches to social interventions work for refugee populations, for whom they are effective, and under which circumstances.MethodsA rapid realist review will be conducted to identify relevant evidence from both social prescribing interventions and social capital-based interventions (where comparably operationalized), published 2014–2024. The date range reflects recent expansion of both social prescribing interest and forced migration research, with earlier intervention being less commonly documented. Six databases will be searched (PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL, SCOPUS, PsycInfo), complemented by extensive supplementary search strategies. Two independent reviewers will screen and extract data using piloted criteria.SynthesisRealist analysis will map included evidence to identify intervention concepts, methodologies, populations, settings, delivery structures, and evaluation measures. This mapping will be used to identify and group families of interventions that function comparably and to develop program theories using if-then logic (statements theorizing how social prescribing programs may be effective using a context-mechanism-outcome configuration). Synthesis results will include multiple products to transparently evidence the working process of the review and to illustrate the final results.DisseminationFindings will be published in a peer-reviewed, open-access journal, with a briefing paper distributed to relevant research networks.Systematic review registrationhttps://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/PTKDX.

Publication Date

2026-02-16

Publication Title

Frontiers in Public Health

Volume

14

Acceptance Date

2026-01-23

Deposit Date

2026-02-18

Funding

The author(s) declared that financial support was received for this work and/or its publication. This research will be conducted by an independent team of international researchers, without alignment to a specific funded or commissioned project. The project team lead is employed within the newly established Graduate School for “Health Policy and Systems in Uncertainty” hosted as an interdisciplinary research group between the Centre for Uncertainty Studies and the Faculty for Public Health at the University of Bielefeld, Germany. We acknowledge the financial support of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Open Access Publication Fund of Bielefeld University for the article processing charge. This report is independent research supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration South West Peninsula. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Institute for Health and Care Research or the Department of Health and Social Care.

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