Social prescriptions for activities such as gardening, fishing, attending museums, as well arts & sports clubs are to be offered to children and adolescents who report high levels of loneliness or low community connection as part of a new four-year project led by UCL researchers. Loneliness is common among young people compared to other age groups in the UK, with one in 10 (11.3%) 10- to 15-year-olds saying they often feel lonely.
The new national programme will work with schools to identify children aged nine to 13 who feel lonely or isolated. The children will then be connected to a link worker or social prescriber who will "prescribe" an activity tailored to the young person's interests and support the young person in engaging with that activity. The research team will compare outcomes (in terms of wellbeing, reduced loneliness and mental health difficulties, and academic attendance and achievement) among these children over the following year with the outcomes of a control group of children who were signposted to an activity but not given extra support from the social prescriber.
The team is currently recruiting 12 primary and secondary schools for the pilot phase of the project, starting this year, with the aim of later expanding to 30 schools across the UK next year. Loneliness has become an increasing problem among adolescents in the UK. This problem is especially acute in cities and among children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
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