Resources for Children & Young People’s Social Prescribing

In 2020, NHS England & NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) commissioned the Social Prescribing Youth Network (SPYN) to develop a proposal for ‘youth social prescribing’ which is to help build an all-age model of social prescribing. Following completion of this work, and using some of the information gathered, SPYN worked independently to produce this resource that is intended to help more areas to introduce all-age social prescribing.

This supports the commitment in the NHS Long Term Plan for social prescribing to be an “all-age model, from maternity and childhood through to end of life”

While SPYN has led on publishing the resource, the content has been co-produced with:

• Four pilot delivery sites in Brighton & Hove, Luton, Sheffield and Southampton.
• Over 600 members of the Social Prescribing Youth Network (via an online survey)
• Focus groups of parents, led by Family Action
• Applied Research Collaboration South West Peninsula (PenARC) at the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter

The authors are Dr Marie Polley, Dr Marcello Bertotti and Paul Jarvis-Beesley

Many others made invaluable contributions. SPYN would like to acknowledge and thank, in particular: Dawn Mitchell, Kerryn Husk, Lorna Burns, Kate Allen, Siobhan Mitchell, Vashti Berry, Daniel Hayes, Andrew Boyd, Sirinda Bhindal, Delia Beck, Jo Robins and Jo Ward.

Follow SPYN on Twitter