Daily: Wonder Drug or Placebo - Does Social Prescribing Save Lives?

We often hear that laughter is the best medicine. But healthcare providers in Bristol have taken the message seriously and are now prescribing comedy courses to help people recover from PTSD. It’s just one case of “social prescribing” that’s sweeping throughout practices across the country. Jelena Sofronijevic talks to Professor Gurch Randhawa and former service user Debs Teale about what constitutes “social medication,” why there’s no magic pill for long-term problems in politics and big pharma, and how housing and education impact health today.

• “Social prescribing will only be successful when it is rolled out in a consistent way.” - Gurch Randhawa
• “The beauty of social prescribing is that it can be anything creative.” - Debs Teale
• “I get nervous when systems privilege the medical model of becoming unwell and receiving a prescription to manage it.” - Gurch Randhawa
• “It's not a National Health Service, it's a National Sickness Service.” - Gurch Randhawa

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Presented and produced by Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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