Designing a Social Prescribing Model to Enhance the Holistic Well-Being of Older Adults in Indonesia

Introduction: population Population aging is accelerating worldwide, including in Indonesia, where older adults face a high burden of chronic diseases, loneliness, and social isolation. Current healthcare Healthcare services remain heavily medical and curative, leaving a treatment gap in addressing psychosocial needs unmet. Social prescribing, which has shown successful in Western countries, has yet to benot been systematically explored in lower-middle-income contexts such as Indonesia, where strong social capital and cultural values could provide a foundation forsupport its adaptation.Objective: this Tostudy aims to identify the domains and indicators of a contextually adapted social prescribing model for older adults in Makassar City, Indonesia.Methods: a A qualitative design with a phenomenological orientation design was employed. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 14 stakeholders, including older adults, caregivers, health workers, social workers, psychologists, religious leaders, community cadres, and policymakers. Thematic analysisData were analyzed thematically using NVivo Pro 12 to generated locally relevant domains and indicators of social prescribing relevant to the local context.Results: eight Eight domains emerged: (1) physical health, (2) mental and emotional well-being, (3) cognitive function, (4) spiritual well-being, (5) social and community support, (6) arts and creativity, (7) environment, and (8) culture. Findings highlight sSpirituality was as a central domain in Makassar, reflecting Indonesia’s socio-cultural and religious context. , while eEnvironmental barriers and stigma portraying the elderly as an economic burden were identified as key challenges.Conclusion: this This study provides the first context-specific evidence for social prescribing in Indonesia. By iIntegrating cultural and spiritual resources, strengthening community-based supports, and addressing stigma and structural barriers may enable feasible, sustainable interventions. social prescribing can serve as a feasible and sustainable approach to enhance the holistic well-being of older adults in Indonesia. Findings informsThese insights contribute not only to local policy and contributepractice but also to global discourse on adapting social prescribing to diverse socio-cultural and economic settings.