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Developing a monitoring and evaluation framework for social prescribing for young people with mental health difficulties 

Led by Jennifer Lau, Mariana Steffen & Paul Heritage from Wolfson Institute of Population Health and School of English and Drama

Published:

Research

Bringing together unique expertise and experiences from their different faculties and disciplines, Jennifer Lau and Mariana Steffen from the Wolfson Institute of Population Health and Paul Heritage from the School of English and Drama’s new research project focuses on social prescribing for young people with mental health difficulties. Anxiety and depression is common in young people, and it is a strategic UK government priority to improve access to services and care pathways for these individuals, especially for those in deprived areas of the country. Social prescribing is an approach that connects these individuals with non-medical sources of support within communities and is a key part of the government’s strategy. 

Impact:

The London Borough of Newham developed the Multi-Agency Collective (MAC) in 2021, bringing young people with mental health difficulties together with voluntary and community sector organisations working on social prescribing, but the MAC lacked a commonly held directive and data collection protocol. Lau and Steffen’s aim is to join up these dots by creating and implementing a robust and rigorous evaluation framework to be used across the MAC. The projected policy impact is for this to provide an evidence base for the effectiveness of the practice currently in place, and for policy to change according to these results. If successful, the framework could be scaled up nationally and internationally. Lau, Steffen and Heritage also intend to increase capacity within these local organisations by training them on the shared outcomes framework. Ultimately the aim is to improve the health care and benefits provided for the young people involved in the scheme.  

Funding Allocation

Lau, Steffen and Heritage were successful in the Queen Mary Impact Fund small stream this year and intend to use the funds to hold three consultation workshops to discuss and decide the measures and approaches to be used in the framework. The fund will also go towards the local organisations for their involvement in this work and reimbursing the young people too for their time and participation. The remaining funds will be used for the design of a report, a manual and infographics for a dissemination event to be held in a year’s time to help scale up the project further, bringing together the NHS, Local Authorities, and community organisations. 

 

 

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