Social prescribing (SP) addresses patients’ non-medical needs by connecting them to community-based services through structured referral pathways. While established in many European countries, SP remains unfamiliar in Türkiye. This qualitative focus group study examines family medicine resident doctors’ perspectives on the applicability of SP in Turkish primary care. This single-centre qualitative study employed online focus group discussions (FGDs). Fourteen family medicine resident doctors were recruited and grouped into three focus sessions. Before the interviews, participants attended a one-hour briefing on the concept of SP. Data were collected through FGDs guided by a semi-structured interview guide, which were audio-recorded with consent and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were anonymised and analysed in MAXQDA using inductive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke). Coding was conducted independently by two researchers and finalised through consensus meetings. Reporting follows the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) checklist. Analysis yielded 292 codes organized into five themes: conceptual ambiguity, perceived benefits, the central role of family doctors, feasibility barriers and enablers, and training needs. Resident physicians viewed SP as aligned with holistic family medicine but identified multi-level barriers at the clinician level (time/workload), patient level (motivation/costs), and system level (coordination/capacity). They proposed corresponding enablers: physician training, public awareness campaigns, individualized planning, multi-stakeholder coordination, and institutional support. Resident doctors are cautiously optimistic about SP but emphasise practical constraints. They recommended priority actions including concise training, clear referral and feedback pathways with a defined social prescribing link worker, asset mapping, and multi-stakeholder collaboration supported by basic monitoring and evaluation. Pilot implementations in Family Health Centres could test feasibility and inform scale-up and curriculum integration.
Akyön et al. (Thu,) studied this question.