‘Social prescriptions’ can help young people through mental health challenges – new research

In an article published by Policy@Manchester, Ruth Farrimond-Goff and Professor Caroline Bond highlight recent data from the World Health Organisation which suggests that one in seven people globally aged 10-19 years experience a diagnosable mental health condition.

But they point out that whilst ‘social prescribing’ - providing a link worker or community navigator to prescribe a social/community-based care package - can support adults to address social and emotional needs, it is not yet commonly deployed for children and young people in the UK.

To learn more about the implications of embedding social prescribing within the education sector, the researchers reviewed a pilot scheme undertaken in a large Combined Authority in the North West of England.

“We wanted to know if social prescribing is a beneficial alternative method and preventative mechanism for boosting young people’s mental health and wellbeing through engagement with activities,” Farrimond-Goff and Bond write.

“We also wanted to assess how it is working with on-site link workers in relation to supporting college aged young people’s mental health.” The link worker helps the young person to consider their strengths and interests, identifies an appropriate activity and then supports them to connect with it.

From their findings, they conclude: “It was evident that the need for.” They add: “We found that the link worker role was pivotal to the success of the project. The students talked about the link workers being a ‘listening ear’ and supportive, as well as providing advice and guidance.”

In their article, the University of Manchester researchers note that, in its ‘Break down barriers to opportunity’ mission, the government has identified poor mental health as a barrier to learning.

“They have pledged to provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, so every young person has access to early support ‘to address problems before they escalate,” Farrimond-Goff and Bond write. “We recommend that social prescribing link workers be integrated into this strategy and are a key part of the workforce of school mental health professionals.”

They continue: “Barnardo’s has called for universal mental health support in schools through ‘a national strategy for social prescribing for children and young people.’ Our research supports this call.”

The academics also advise that social prescribing has been identified in the NHS Long Term Plan as becoming a universal service covering all age groups, “thus implying that this mainly adult focussed intervention would be available to under 18s.”

Through their study, Farrimond-Goff and Bond pinpoint several “facilitators and barriers” if such an extension of social prescribing to lower age groups is to achieve optimum impact.

“The key facilitator was having a dedicated in-house link worker with the main barriers being a lack of budget, time and community access,” they explain. “As government have undertaken to provide mental health support in schools and introduce a network of ‘Young Futures hubs,’ we advocate for a national social prescribing strategy to be integrated into the development of and budget for these plans.

“Finally, we found that listening to young people and being aware of student choice is important when considering the range of activities on offer when delivering social prescribing. Education policymakers developing strategies and interventions should ensure that there are ample consultation opportunities so that the views of young people, educators and mental health professionals can be taken into account.”

‘The right prescription? Young people, mental health and social prescribing,’ by Ruth Farrimond-Goff and Professor Caroline Bond is available to read on the Policy@Manchester website.