Listen First, Prescribe Later: Applying Social Prescribing to Support Child & Youth Mental Wellbeing

Mental health challenges among children and young people have risen sharply in recent years. Data from NHS Digital suggest that around 1 in 5 children aged 8 to 16 in England now experience a probable mental health disorder. At the same time, there is a growing but often overlooked inequality, where young people experiencing mental health difficulties are around three times more likely to be unable to afford to take part in everyday activities, such as sport, days out, or simply spending time with friends. 

These disparities point to a fundamental challenge: the very activities that can support mental health, movement, creativity, connection, are often the hardest to access for those who might benefit most. 

This is where social prescribing offers a different starting point. 

Social prescribing connects children and young people to non-clinical activities in their communities, from sports and physical activity to arts, culture, and nature-based programmes. A distinctive aspect of social prescribing lies in its primary approach. Instead of focusing first on symptoms or diagnoses, social prescribing conversations centre on a simple question: what matters to you? 

For some young people, that might be getting back into football after losing confidence. For others, it could be trying something completely new, like a drama group or an art class. These conversations, often led by trained link workers or practitioners, create space to explore interests, barriers, and motivations, and to find activities that feel genuinely meaningful and achievable. 

From here, change happens in multiple ways at once. Taking part in enjoyable activities can lift mood and provide relief from stress in the moment. Being part of a group can reduce feelings of loneliness and open up new social connections. Over time, regularly engaging in something meaningful can help rebuild confidence, strengthen identity, and give young people a greater sense of control in their lives. Even small shifts, like having somewhere to go each week, something to look forward to, someone expecting you, can begin to reintroduce structure and stability. 

Recent trials of youth social prescribing, including school- and community-based programmes, are beginning to show encouraging results. Participants report improvements in wellbeing, reductions in loneliness, and lower perceived stress. Alongside this, qualitative insights from this work highlight what matters most to young people: having choice, feeling listened to, and being supported to access activities they would not otherwise have tried. 

This is where the importance of considering the individual is crucial to the effectiveness of sustainable interventions, particularly for physical activity. For example, the WHO guidelines for children and adolescents recommend at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity every day to support healthy development. In the context of mental wellbeing, the evidence can provide us with the optimal timing, intensity and form of exercise that would prove the largest mood gains (if you can, go for a 30 minute morning or midday jog, and your brain will thank you all day!). However, prescribing a daily hour of running, gym work or sport is rather unappealing to those who are not engaged in exercise. In order to engage those who need support the most, it’s crucial to move away from optimal prescriptions that are grounded in physiological responses, and instead consider personality, preference and enjoyment for sustainable change – at least in the first instance.

Through research funded by Grand Challenges at UCL, we are learning what works, and for who. Overall, students largely prefer activities that are enriched and dynamic, such as dance and outdoor activities. But, far more importantly, our personalities and motivations shape the way in which we take part in physical activity, which activities we choose, which intensities we enjoy, the appeal of social elements, and what keeps us coming back.

For example, neuroticism (being sensitive to stress and prone to worry) is a personality trait that consistently predicts exercise behaviours and enjoyment. Individuals who score highly on this trait tend to benefit from being given space for independence in how, when and why they engage in their exercise plans, without the pressure of being monitored. They also appear to be drawn to outdoor, enriched and less structured activities. But most importantly, this is the group in whom we observe a particularly strong reduction in stress after only 6 weeks of exercise. This suggests that regular exercise can have an effective stress-reducing effect in those who need it the most, highlighting the importance and effectiveness of physical activity as a mental health intervention, if support is delivered in the right way.

The broader message is that, while we do know which optimal levels of activity have the strongest benefits for physical health, exercise recommendations for supporting mental health should be grounded in the principles of social prescribing. Considering the individual first is what enables a sustainable behaviour change, therefore supporting long term mental wellbeing. Ultimately, what matters most is that we move, and that we do so through something we enjoy!

Supporting children’s mental health is not only about treatment. It is also about creating the conditions for connection, participation, and everyday experiences that help young people feel part of the world around them.