Psychiatry · Pediatrics · 2 h ago
About 30% of young people engaged with social prescribing activities
A quantitative service evaluation in East London examined engagement with community activities among young people referred through a mental health social prescribing pathway. About 30% of the 146 people included in engagement analyses took part; uptake did not differ significantly across the measured demographic or referral groups.
- About 30% participated in connected community activities.
- Engagement analyses included 146 of 231 young people.
- No measured demographic or referral factor predicted uptake.
- The evaluation did not assess mental health outcomes.
Social prescribing can connect children and young people experiencing mental health difficulties with community-based activities alongside traditional services. This service evaluation used routinely collected data from 231 young people in East London to examine engagement patterns and potential predictors. Missing data meant analyses of engagement and associated factors included 146 young people.
Around 30% engaged with the activities to which they were connected. The researchers found no statistically significant associations between uptake and age, gender, ethnicity, deprivation, presenting need, or acceptance for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
The findings point to low-to-moderate participation in this local pathway and did not identify systematic differences in uptake across the measured groups. They do not establish whether social prescribing improves mental health outcomes or explain why many young people did not participate. The evaluation was based on a single East London service, and missing data reduced the analysis sample; its results may not generalise to other settings.
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BMC Public Health: Predictors of engagement in a hub-based social prescribing programme for children and young people with mental health difficulties: a quantitative service evaluation study ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.