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Empowering Cancer Survivors Through Social Prescribing: The SPACE Project Begins

On 31 January, EPR and seven other partner organisations met in Barcelona, Spain for the first face-to-face research meeting of the newly launched SPACE Project.

The Social Prescribing and Civic Engagement (SPACE) Project is an Erasmus+ funded project that aims to bring together social prescribing and volunteering to create an environment and approach that supports the health and well-being of people with health and rehabilitation needs, with a special focus on cancer survivors. The project will address Education and Training needs of health, social care and rehabilitation professionals, NGO/Civil Society leaders, as well as policy makers, making a direct impact on the EU Cancer Mission contributing to the National Cancer Plans. 

During the meeting, partners discussed in detail the first upcoming project tasks and deliverables. It was interesting to hear the different landscapes and approaches to social prescribing and utilising link workers in primary care settings from the respective partner countries.

All partners will contribute with different expertise, but all with the same underlying objective – to collaboratively develop an adaptable approach for integrating volunteering into Social Prescribing, particularly for individuals recovering from cancer, with the goal of implementing it across Europe. This includes enhancing the capacity and confidence of health, social care, rehabilitation professionals, and NGO staff to engage with the program both during and beyond the project. Additionally, the there will be a strong focus on raising awareness of the value of volunteering in urban/community gardens as part of Social Prescribing, particularly for cancer survivors, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the project among practitioners and policymakers.

EPR will contribute to SPACE through:

  • Desk research on the European current situation, challenges, and potential benefits of implementing social prescribing through volunteering;
  • Capacity building and the development of a learning programme, including a Quality Benchmark Standards Manual;
  • Lead the communications and dissemination strategy, including creating the visual identity and website of the project, as well as the organisation of dissemination events;
  • Co-develop a Policy Brief (policy recommendation) based on the research and outcomes of the project;
  • Support the organisation of an International Policy Conference in Brussels

Additional Details

Social prescribing is a way of helping people improve their health and well-being by connecting them with non-medical services and activities in their community. Instead of just giving a prescription for medicine, healthcare professionals can refer patients to support groups, exercise programs, art classes, or volunteer opportunities.

For cancer survivors, social prescribing can be especially helpful because it can support and improve mental health, social isolation, and the need for a sense of purpose after treatment. It’s about supporting the whole person, not just their physical health.

The project is led by the Centre for European Volunteering (CEV) (Belgium) and is implemented together with seven other organisations: