Verified · Apr 20251 min read
projectScaled · national · 2011

Welzijn op Recept (wellbeing on prescription)

The Dutch form of social prescribing: the general practitioner refers patients with psychosocial complaints (loneliness, stress, grief) to a community wellbeing coach instead of prescribing medication or medical care.

Open first aid kit with medical supplies on a gray backgroundillustrative atlas image · Roger Brown / Pexels

01 The context

Pilot started in December 2011 at the De Roerdomp health center (Nieuwegein) with the welfare organization MOvactor and the Trimbos-instituut. Today it operates in more than 175 municipalities, coordinated by the Landelijk Kennisnetwerk Welzijn op Recept, with a national monitor and anchoring in the Integraal Zorgakkoord. In 2025-2026 it is expanding with structural funding (7.6 million euros/year) in Groningen and Noord-Drenthe via the Nij Begun social agenda.

02 How it works

03 What it stands on

Evidence level
Own experience
Grounded in published theory
Documented evidence elsewhere
Independently evaluated here
Peer-reviewed research documents this project: the strongest evidence level in the atlas.
The evidence 2

04 Go to the source

Visit the official site welzijnoprecept.nl