referral 復習

There’s no way I would ever have become an MP if it wasn’t for my dad, Dermot. Warm, funny and a 60s radical, he was the son of Irish immigrants who was inspired into a life of public service by John F Kennedy’s quote that you should “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. He paid my Labour party subs when I joined at the age of 15. But he struggled with alcohol for much of his life and, nearly two years ago, that chronic dependency killed him.
中略
But our research – a freedom of information request to every council in England – also found cause for alarm. Almost all local authorities have cut their budgets for alcohol and drug treatment services. And in more than half of councils, referrals to alcohol treatment services are falling. In other words, when parents reach out for help with their drinking, there is less help available. That is not good enough.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/12/children-alcoholic-parents-services-cut

referral /rɪfˈɚːrəl/ を取り上げます。referの派生語だということは明確ですが、文脈上「参照」で訳すと意味が通りません。『ジーニアス英和辞典』で調べると「〔…への〕参照;〔専門医などへの〕紹介; 推薦; 委託〔to〕」とありました。つまり上記では専門医にかかるための紹介状のことを指していることがわかります。
次に語源ですがreferと同じく、re「反対に」とラテン語のferre「運ぶ」からきていることが確認できました。
さらにCambridge Dictionary では“the act of directing someone to a different place or person for information, help, or action, often to a person or group with more knowledge or power”と定義されています。(Kiwi girl)