Table 2

Description of included studies using the PICO framework

Author	Study			Intervention	Outcomes		Results	Other
First author year location	Design (assessments) duration	Description	N Age	Programme description	Psychosocial	Visits/costs	Missing data	Funding Conflict of interest
First author year location	Design (assessments) duration	Description	N Age	1. Referral, 2. link worker, 3. providers	Psychosocial	Visits/costs	Missing data	Funding Conflict of interest
Elston 2019 England, UK40	Before–after (two times) 12 months	50+ with 2+ chronic conditions	n=151 assessed n=126 completed	‘Local health, social and economic services’. p. 2	Well-being Star WEMWBS	Health and social care use	40/126 people 12 months (32%)	Torbay Medical Research Fund Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
		73% women	79.6 y (mean)	GPs and staff from community and social care, hospital discharge, housing, other organisations, self Link worker Coordinators from local service
Giebel 2021 England, UK41	Before–after (three times) 6 months	People with dementia diagnosis and family carer	n=25, 14 people with dementia	‘”Happy and Healthy” classes, which comprise physical and mental well-being exercises’. p. 1854 1. Psychiatrist, GPs and self-referral. 2. NR. 3. Community centre advisers.	SWEMWBS	NA	3/25 people 3 months (12%)	National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration North West Coast
		36% women	74 (8) y Mean (SD)				10/25 people 6 months (40%)
Jones 2020 Wales, UK42	Before–after (two times) 16 weeks	Age 55+ years; community dwelling; no or mild cognitive impairment; and families	n=159	Health Precinct ‘Lifestyle Management, National Exercise Referral Scheme (NERS) and Cardiac Rehabilitation’. p. 2	Campaign to End Loneliness Scale EQ-5D-5L Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale	GP appointments	93/159 people did not complete study (58%).	Health and Care Research Wales Grant
		61% women	72.4 (8.3) y Mean (SD)	Healthcare professionals or social care teams. NR. Health precinct programme-specific staff.
Kim 2021 South Korea43	Before–after (two times) 10 weeks	Age 65+ years from rural area	n=16	‘The interventions consisted of three parts: music storytelling, a self-help group, and gardening’. p. 2	GDS-K Self-Efficacy Scale Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Social Participation Scale UCLA Loneliness Scale	NA	6/16 people did not complete programme (38%).	National Research Foundation of Korea, Grant/Award
		All women	82 (5.9) y Mean (SD)	Public health doctor; administrative and welfare office. Link worker. Experts, staff and volunteers.
Loftus 2017 Northern Ireland, UK44	Quality Improvement (two times) 12 weeks before and 12 weeks during the programme	65+ and chronic condition, GP visits+ or multiple meds	n=68	‘Social clubs, Men’s Shed, counselling, arts programme, falls prevention, exercises classes, crochet classes, personal development, craft classes, befriending and computer courses’. p. 97	NA	GP surgery visits GP home visits GP telephone calls Repeat medication prescriptions	40/68 (59%) declined social prescribing activity (not in per protocol analysis)
Loftus 2017 Northern Ireland, UK44		71% women	72.9 (7.3) y Mean (SD)	Local GPs. Link worker. NR, but included a variety of activities.
Thomson 2018 England, UK45	Before–after (three times) 10 weeks	65–94 y at risk for social isolation or loneliness	n=115	Museum-based programme	MWM-OA		NR	Grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council
		63% women	65–94 y	Health and social care; organisations. NR. Museum facilitators and volunteers.
Vogelpoel 2014 London, UK46	Before–after (2 weeks) 12 weeks	61–95 y with sensory impairment, socially isolated	n=12	Community arts programme	WEMWBS		4/12 people did not attend the full programme (33%)	Authors work at Sense, a national charity for people with sensory impairment
		75% women	Mean >80 y	Local GPs. Link worker. Sense support staff; communicator guides; visual and tactile arts facilitator.

Please note we did not include physical outcomes in the table as there were so few reported in the included studies.
EQ-5D-5L, EuroQol-5 Dimensions-5 Levels; GDS-K, Geriatric Depression Scale Korean Version; GP, general practitioner; MUM-OA, Museum Wellbeing Measure for Older Adults; NA, not assessed; NR, not reported; PAM, patient activation measure; PICO, population, intervention, comparator and outcome; RCFS, Rockwood Clinical Frail Scale; SWEMWBS, Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale; WEMWBS, Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Health and Well-being Scale; WHOQOL-BREF, WHO Quality of Life (Shorter version); y, years.