Teenagers to be prescribed surfing, dancing and gardening as mental health aid

Activities will be on offer as part of a trial to determine their effectiveness in helping to improve moods
Surfing could be on offer to young people with mental health issues
PA
William Mata25 October 2022

Teenagers in some parts of England will have the chance to take part in activities such as surfing, dancing, roller skating and gardening to see if it leads to improved mental health.

The NHS is to trial the scheme, promoting arts and the outdoors as therapy, in 10 parts of England and at about 600 people aged 11-18 on waiting lists for care.

Some studies have shown that time spent outdoors in nature can have as great an effect on mental health as antidepressants, although the British Medical Journal has published reports of a more sceptical tone.

Academics from University College London are running the scheme, which is funded by The Prudence Trust, and it could be adopted across the country if participation leads to improved moods in young people. It is on the back of a smaller scale trial conducted in Luton, Sheffield and Brighton and Hove in 2018-2020.

Dr Daisy Fancourt, of the university, said: “Social prescribing has the potential to support young people while they wait, by providing access to a range of creative and social activities that could enhance their confidence, self-esteem and social support networks.”

Dr Fancourt and her mental health team will assess the costs of the scheme against the availability of them through surveys and interactions with an NHS “buddy” link worker.

After the initial trial, a statement of participant feedback said: “Link workers contributed to improving their sense of autonomy, reduced their sense of stigma around mental health challenges and filled a gap in mental health service provision by providing almost immediate access to non-clinically based emotional support.”

Although the theory behind the scheme has not yet been taken as gospel by the NHS, the World Health Organisation does advocate physical outdoor activity as a mental health aid.

Olly Parker, of charity Young Minds, said: “Social prescribing — involving activities like exercise, gardening and music — is a really exciting way of improving mental wellbeing. It looks at people holistically and tries to find non-medicalised ways of helping them find a way through the challenges they may be experiencing.”

Exact dates and locations for the project have not yet been announced.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in