Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 8, 2025
Involving Individuals with Developmental Language Disorder and Their Parents/Carers in Research Priority Setting
Published on: June 6, 2020
Locating the evidence for children and young people social prescribing: Where to start? A scoping review protocol
Julie Feather1, Shaun Liverpool2,3, Eve Allen2,3
1Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire, United Kingdom.
Insights
Social prescribing helps children with non-clinical mental health needs connect with community resources. This review maps the diverse language used to describe these interventions, aiming to clarify their impact on youth mental health.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Social Work
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health challenges in children and young people globally.
- In England, one in four children experienced poor mental health in 2022.
- Social prescribing offers a community-based approach for non-clinical youth mental health issues, but evidence and consistent terminology are lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically identify and analyze the diverse terms, concepts, and language used to describe social prescribing for children and young people.
- To address the inconsistency in terminology hindering the understanding and assessment of social prescribing's impact on youth mental health.
Main Methods:
- A six-stage scoping review framework was employed.
- Extensive literature search across multiple electronic databases and grey literature sources.
- Data extraction by two reviewers focusing on terminology, intervention details, and outcomes.
Main Results:
- The review identified significant variation in terminology used to describe social prescribing for children and young people.
- Analysis revealed diverse concepts and approaches within social prescribing interventions.
- A critical narrative of common themes will be developed.
Conclusions:
- Standardizing terminology is crucial for understanding and evaluating the effectiveness of social prescribing for children's mental health.
- Further research is needed to build a robust evidence base for social prescribing interventions in youth mental health.
- Clarifying language will facilitate the consistent application and assessment of social prescribing's benefits.
Abstract:
It is estimated that disruptions to life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have led to an increase in the number of children and young people suffering from mental health issues globally. In England one in four children experienced poor mental health in 2022. Social prescribing is gaining traction as a systems-based approach, which builds upon person-centered methods, to refer children and young people with non-clinical mental health issues to appropriate community assets. Recognition of social prescribing benefits for children's mental health is increasing, yet evidence is limited. Inconsistent terminology and variation of terms used to describe social prescribing practices across the literature hinders understanding and assessment of social prescribing's impact on children's mental health. This scoping review thus aims to systematically identify and analyse the various terms, concepts and language used to describe social prescribing with children and young people across the wider health and social care literature base. The scoping review will be undertaken using a six-stage framework which includes: identifying the research question, identifying relevant studies, study selection, charting the data, collating, summarising and reporting the results, and consultation. Electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, PsychInfo, Social Policy Practice, Scopus, Science Direct, Cochrane library and Joanna Briggs), alongside evidence from grey literature, hand search, citation tracking, and use of expert correspondence will be included in the review to ensure published and unpublished literature is captured. Data extraction will be carried out by two reviewers using a predefined form to capture study characteristics, intervention descriptions, outcomes, and key terms used to report social prescribing for children and young people. No formal quality appraisal or risk of bias evaluation will be performed, as this scoping review aims to map and describe the literature. Data will be stored and managed using the Rayaan.ai platform and a critical narrative of the common themes found will be included.
