How social prescribing can help young people waiting for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAHMS) support

There are currently long waiting lists for young people needing mental health support in the UK. In this webinar we will explore how a social prescribing pathway could help young people aged 11-18 while they are waiting to access CAHMS, by connecting them to non-medical forms of community support such as skills development, peer support, befriending and social or cultural activities.

We will be sharing learnings from the first phase of the Wellbeing while waiting (‘INSPYRE) project - a three-year observational cohort study launched in 2022 by the Social Biobehavioural Research Group at the University College London.

Alongside this there will be an introduction to a newly published manual which will support CAMHS staff in developing and scaling social prescribing services in the future, as well as insights from making social prescribing happen right now on the ground. The session will end with the opportunity to ask questions.

We will hear from:

Social Biobehavioural Research Group at University College London

The Social Biobehavioural Research investigate how social connections and behaviours impact people’s health. By conducting cutting-edge, cross disciplinary research, its aim is to determine how health is influenced by both social ‘assets’ and ‘deficits’. These include social relationships, arts and culture, leisure, nature, and social prescribing (assets), as well as loneliness, isolation, and social restrictions (deficits). They will give a brief overview of the Wellbeing While Waiting project and share learning from Phase 1. This phase has involved working with 12 NHS sites across England to co-design the CAMHS social prescribing pathway and develop the protocols, resources and training needed to recruit young people into the service.

Sunderland Counselling Service and South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS FT - Social Prescribing in Sunderland

Sunderland Counselling Service and South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS FT have collaborated for many years to provide Sunderland’s Community CAMHS service. They will discuss the development of a new social prescribing pathway within this service, and share their experiences of the initial stages of implementation, including challenges encountered and early successes. The views of the social prescribers themselves as well as the young people they work with will also be shared.

Streetgames

The Social Prescribing Youth Network (SPYN), which is hosted by StreetGames, is supporting the development and delivery of social prescribing pathways with CAMHS and third sector organisations. With over 1,600 members, it is the leading national authority on social prescribing with children and young people and the network continues to grow across the country. The Streetgames team will present on their experiences working with NHS sites and the CYP toolkit to develop social prescribing pathways for young people waiting on CAHMs support.

Speakers:

• Professor Daisy Fancourt, Social Biobehavioural Research Group at University College London
• Dr Daniel Hayes, Social Biobehavioural Research Group at University College London
• Liza Jarvis, Children and Young People (CYP) Social Prescribing Lead at Streetgames
• Laura Buglass, Primary Mental Health Specialist at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust
• Toby Sweet, CEO at Sunderland Counselling Service

Please note that the zoom link will be sent out within a day of you signing up, we will also send the link again the evening before the webinar. All webinars will be recorded and available after the session.

All our webinars have closed captions and live BSL interpretation as standard.