Webinar: Youth social prescribing in action – practical examples and learning from Wellbeing While Waiting

We share a round up from our latest webinar, where we joined the National Academy of Social Prescribing to present the latest learning and research from our Wellbeing While Waiting project.

19 November 2024

There are currently long waiting lists for young people needing mental health support in the UK. In a recent webinar organised by the National Academy of Social Prescribing (NASP) our team shared the latest learning from research exploring how social prescribing could help young people aged 11 – 18 while they are waiting to access CAMHS, by connecting them to non-medical forms of community support such as skills development, peer support, befriending and social or cultural activities.

Webinar summary

The webinar began with an introduction from Professor Daisy Fancourt, who outlined Wellbeing While Waiting (‘INSPYRE’), our three-year study launched in 2022 funded by the Prudence Trust. We then heard from our Research Assistants and Social Prescribers Lou Sticpewich, Joanna Page and Joely Wright. They shared how social prescribing has been working in practice for young people involved in the study and their learnings from doing this work day in day out. Lastly, Dr Daniel Hayes gave his reflections and then the webinar finished with a lively Q&A and discussion about what’s next for youth social prescribing.

Read on for some of our highlights and watch the full webinar recording below. You can also view the team’s presentation slides here.

Highlights 

  • The team were excited to share high levels of interest and uptake from young people – 82% of young people referred to us to date have engaged in social prescribing sessions.  
  • Social prescribers have taken creative approaches to structuring the sessions, personalising and gamifying them to fit each young person’s unique set of interests and needs.
  • They also shared reflections and practical tips for different modes of delivery, be it hosting sessions remotely, in-person or hybrid.
  • A key learning throughout this work has been the importance of meeting young people where they are at and ensuring that sessions are young person-led.
  • We also briefly discussed the future of youth social prescribing, identifying that more input from young people themselves in developing services in their area that they need is required. Social prescribing could help identify that need and is thus one part of the puzzle.
  • Ultimately, youth social prescribing comes from and embraces a strengths-based approach. In the words of one of our social prescribers: “Young people are fascinating and great, and all have such amazing things to tell people. The idea of social prescribing and giving them the opportunity to explore that about themselves and find it at an early age is really cool.”

Speakers: 

  • Professor Daisy Fancourt and Dr Daniel Hayes, Social Biobehavioural Research Group at University College London
  • Research Assistant and Social Prescribers: Lou Sticpewich, Joanna Page and Joely Wright

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Stay tuned – we’ll be hosting another webinar to share the full results from our study later in 2025! In the meantime, you can learn more about our Wellbeing While Waiting (‘INSPYRE’) study online. To hear future updates, you can also subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on X and LinkedIn.