Tackling CAMHS waiting lists through social prescribing

This project focuses on designing and piloting a new social prescribing pathway for young people receiving mental health support through CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services).

In collaboration with the NHS and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), this project is focused on designing and piloting a new social prescribing pathway for young people receiving mental health support through Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

Youth mental health is one of the most pressing issues in the UK today. Emotional disorders among young people have significantly increased over the past decade. Current estimates show that 1 in 5 young people are likely to have a mental disorder. These rates are even higher among those from more deprived backgrounds, underlining the critical role of social determinants of health (SDoH).

Although talking therapies offered through CAMHS are the best evidence-based treatments for emotional disorders, half of people subsequently relapse after treatment. This high relapse rate is likely influenced by unaddressed social factors, which are typically not part of the CAMHS treatment journey. This puts additional pressure on already overstretched and underfunded services.

Over the last decade, social prescribing has emerged as a promising approach to meet unmet needs in healthcare. Now active in over 30 countries, and supported by global organisations like WHO and the UN, social prescribing offers a holistic, person-centred, and community-based model of care. It connects individuals to non-clinical support in their communities, such as arts and music groups, nature-based activities, sports clubs, heritage events, volunteering, skills development, and advice services, to address the social factors affecting health. While adult-focused social prescribing pathways have shown strong early results, there is a significant gap in understanding its impact on children and young people (CYP).

Led by UCL, this project builds on existing expertise to co-develop and pilot a social prescribing pathway specifically for young people. The pathway is designed as a ‘step down’ intervention, offered after brief psychological treatment in CAMHS, when young people are ready to be discharged.

The goal is to support ongoing mental wellbeing, reduce relapse rates, and ultimately ease the burden on CAMHS by lowering the number of young people returning to or waiting for services.