Social prescribing to enhance youth mental health and wellbeing: a pilot project

Youth social prescribing offers an exciting opportunity to reimagine how we support the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. 

By fostering connections, promoting engagement, and addressing barriers, social prescribing has the potential to empower students to thrive both in and out of the classroom.

The growing spotlight on children and young people’s mental health over the past decade has highlighted the urgent need for innovative and accessible solutions. One in seven young people globally, aged 10-19 years, experience a diagnosable mental health condition (WHO, 2021). 

According to the World Happiness Report, schools and colleges have a standing start in promoting positive wellbeing (Helliwell et al., 2023), meaning they can be the catalyst for change. Could embedding social prescribing within the educational sector be a wise strategy? According to Barnardo’s (2024) the answer is yes; they have called for universal mental health support in schools through “a national strategy for social prescribing for children and young people” (p15).  

Social prescribing is opportunities for connection and growth

Social prescribing is a non-medical approach to improving mental health and wellbeing, connecting young people to activities and services. This forward-thinking model goes beyond traditional therapy or medication by creating opportunities for engagement, belonging, and personal growth. 

At its heart is the link worker who helps the young person to consider their strengths and interests, identifies an appropriate activity, then supports them to connect with it. The link worker meets one to one with the young person and becomes a trusted adult who listens and hears their story, understands the situation, and supports them in a non-judgemental way (Kimberlee, 2015). 

While social prescribing for children and young people is in its infancy, emerging evidence from Hayes et al (2022) highlighted its future potential to support emotional wellbeing. The aim of my research project was to investigate how social prescribing was being undertaken with young people in colleges and its impact. The study particularly focused on how having on-site link workers affected the delivery of social prescribing.  

Background – extracurricular activities and wellbeing

There is little research on social prescribing. Hayes et al. (2020) found only one relevant published study (Bertotti et al., 2020). I therefore carried out a systematic literature review on the benefits of extracurricular activities, given the emphasis on accessing activities within social prescribing models. 

While extracurricular activities could benefit mental health, my review emphasized that offering activities alone is not enough. Students need support to engage meaningfully — this is where the link worker becomes indispensable. Without guidance and encouragement, young people who are already struggling may find it difficult to take that first step.

A social prescribing pilot project

Three further education colleges in the North West of England engaged in a social prescribing pilot project. The colleges served diverse communities, including deprived areas, and offered a mix of academic, vocational, and applied courses.

Through interviews and focus groups with students, staff and social prescribing coordinators, I sought to explore how social prescribing was meeting the mental health and wellbeing needs of young people. 

Link workers and a range of opportunities lead to success

I identified a range of themes that contribute to our understanding of how social prescribing meets the needs of young people, and I’ll focus on three here.

The role of the ‘champion’ link worker 

The on-site ‘link workers’ emerged as pivotal to the pilot’s success. Link workers provided a “listening ear,” guidance, and emotional support. In all cases, students emphasised the importance of having a trusted adult to help them navigate the challenges of anxiety, loneliness, and low self-confidence. 

Activities and Connection

Students benefited from a range of activities, including sports, music, and new initiatives like LGBTQ+ groups and gardening projects. These opportunities fostered confidence, a sense of belonging, and social connections—echoing the positive effects of extracurricular activities documented in the literature review.

The challenges of time, budgets and access

Common barriers included limited budgets, time constraints, and challenges accessing community resources.

Actions you can take to promote social prescribing approaches

The findings from this research help us understand the sustainability of youth social prescribing along with providing insights to support schools and colleges in promoting mental health and wellbeing. Key considerations include:

Make space for extracurricular opportunities

EPs should encourage schools and colleges to offer a wide range of extra-curricular activities that foster social connection and resilience.

Advocate for in-school link workers

Having link workers based in educational settings can make a significant difference. EPs can advocate for dedicated roles and help design training programmes to equip link workers with the skills they need along with collaborating to enhance implementation and evaluation of social prescribing programmes.

Focus on flexibility and student choice

Young people’s needs and preferences should be at the forefront of social prescribing design to increase engagement and impact. EPs can work with schools and colleges to ensure programmes are tailored and inclusive

Use effective wellbeing measures

Using certain wellbeing measures can be more helpful, for example the PERMA framework (Kern et al., 2015; Leontopoulou, 2020)

Promote whole-school approaches and training

Social prescribing should be part of a broader strategy to promote wellbeing. EPs could deliver training to raise awareness of social prescribing as a mental health and wellbeing initiative.  

Continue building research evidence

EPs and TEPs can take a leading role in evaluating social prescribing initiatives across diverse educational settings 

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References

Barnardo’s. (2024). Changing childhoods. Changing lives. Ilford: Barnardo’s.

Bertotti, M., Frostick, C., Sharpe, D., & Temirov, O. (2020). A two-year evaluation of the Young People Social Prescribing (YPSP) pilot: An outcome, process and economic evaluation of social prescribing for young people in three English sites. University of East London: Institute for Connected Communities.

Hayes, D., Cortina, M. A., Labno, A., Moore, A., Edbrooke-Chlids, J., Moltrecht, B., Eisentadt, M., Dalzell, K., & Deighton, J. (2020). Social prescribing in children and young people: A review of the evidence. EBPU Evidence Based Practice Unit. UCL.

Hayes, D., Jarvis-Beesley, P., Mitchell, D., Polley, M., & Husk, K. (2022). ‘The impact of social prescribing on children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing’. London: National Academy for Social Prescribing.

Helliwell, J. F., Layard, R., Sachs, J. D., De Neve, J.-E., Aknin, L. B., & Wang, S. (2023). World Happiness Report 2023. New York: Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Kern, M. L., Waters, L. E., Adler, A., & White, M. A. (2015). A multidimensional approach to measuring well-being in students: Application of the PERMA framework. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10:3, 262-271, DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2014.936962.

Kimberlee, R. (2015). What is social prescribing? Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 2 (1).

Leontopoulou, S. (2020). Measuring well-being in emerging adults: Exploring the PERMA framework for positive youth development. Psychology: The Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 25(1), 72-93. https://doi.org/10.12681/psy_hps.25337.

World Health Organisation [WHO]. (2021). Mental health of adolescents. Retrieved from World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-mental-health

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