The article “Social prescribing in Portugal: a call to address social and behavioural determinants of health, promote health, and strengthen the sustainability of the National Health Service”, published in the Portuguese Journal of Public Health (2025;43(4):294-299), was highlighted as the Article of the Week by the Portuguese Medical Journals Index (ÍndexRMP).
Authored by Sónia Dias, Dean of NOVA NSPH, together with Cristiano Figueiredo, Louíse Hoffmeister, Maria João Marques, Ana Rita Pedro, Margarida Canas, Vasco Ricoca Peixoto and Ana Gama, the article examines the evolution of social prescribing at an international level and describes its implementation pathway in Portugal, highlighting the potential of this approach to promote population health, address the social and behavioural determinants of health, and contribute to the sustainability of the National Health Service..
Social prescribing allows healthcare professionals to refer patients to community activities, services, and resources, whether social, cultural, sporting, or of another nature, promoting healthier lifestyles, stronger social connections, and more integrated, person-centred responses.
In Portugal, the implementation of social prescribing began with NOVA NSPH in 2018 in Family Health Units of the Lisbon Central Health Centre Group, currently part of the São José Local Health Unit, and has progressively expanded to other regions of the country, involving municipalities and organisations from the social sector.
Throughout this process, NOVA NSPH has played a pioneering and mobilising role in the development of social prescribing in Portugal, contributing to the establishment of this approach nationally. The School has led several projects, including providing technical-scientific support, monitoring and evaluation, strengthening evidence production, and adapting international models to the Portuguese context. NOVA NSPH was also a founder of the Portuguese Social Prescribing Network, an initiative that has been instrumental in promoting knowledge sharing, capacity building for professionals, and strengthening collaboration between health, the social sector, and the community.
The article also highlights some of the main challenges for consolidating this approach in Portugal, including the need to raise awareness of social prescribing, deepen intersectoral collaboration, and ensure systematic monitoring of initiatives to guarantee their quality, impact, and sustainability.
The recognition by ÍndexRMP reinforces the scientific relevance and timeliness of the topic. The Portuguese Medical Journals Index, recently renewed, is the only database that comprehensively collects articles published in over 200 Portuguese medical journals, and for more than 30 years it has been distinguishing high-quality, timely work on a weekly basis for a community of over 11,000 users.
This acknowledgement reinforces the School’s contribution to knowledge production and the development of innovative public health solutions, confirming its role as a reference institution in an area in which it was a pioneer in Portugal.
