Leadership Development for Social Prescribing Link Workers and Comparable Community-Based Roles: A Global Scoping Review Protocol

Objective: To systematically map and synthesise global evidence on leadership development frameworks, competency models, and training or development approaches relevant to social prescribing link workers (SPLWs) and comparable community-based, boundary-spanning roles across community, health, and social care settings.Introduction: Social prescribing link workers and similar community-based roles operate at the interface of community, health, and social care systems, where leadership capabilities are essential for coordination, influence, and system navigation. Although the importance of leadership for these roles is increasingly recognised, evidence on how leadership is conceptualised and developed remains fragmented across sectors and international contexts. A scoping review is therefore needed to consolidate this literature and provide an overview of leadership development approaches relevant to SPLWs and comparable roles.Inclusion criteria: Using the Population–Concept–Context (PCC) framework, this scoping review will include evidence where the population comprises SPLWs or comparable community-based roles; the concept relates to leadership development, including frameworks, competency or capability models, and training approaches; and the context includes global community, health, and social care settings. Evidence focusing exclusively on clinical or senior managerial leadership will be excluded.