Written by Gemma Jolly, Head of Health and Wellbeing, The Reading Agency
Did you know reading can help people manage and understand their health and wellbeing? Regular readers benefit from improved sleep, concentration and a better ability to cope with difficult situations.
Books on prescription
The Reading Agency is a UK charity that inspires social and personal change through the proven power of reading. Improving health literacy is key for reducing health inequalities and our research shows 1 in 3 people want to read more books about how to manage their health and wellbeing.
Programmes such as Reading Well, a national Books on Prescription programme developed by The Reading Agency and delivered in partnership with Libraries Connected, provides recommended reading to help people understand and manage their health and wellbeing.
All books on a Reading Well scheme are chosen by health professionals and people with lived experience. This ensures the books provide evidence-based information that speak to people’s needs.
About the books
There are currently five Reading Well schemes:
- Reading Well for mental health – includes books about managing common mental health conditions and difficult feelings and experiences.
- Reading Well for families - recommends reading to support parents and carers to look after their wellbeing in pregnancy and the early years (from conception to aged two).
- Reading Well for children – for children 7-11, includes books on feelings and worries, daily life and getting through a tough time.
- Reading Well for teens – focuses on mental health and includes books on anxiety and depression, low self-esteem, body image, bereavement and loss, surviving online and sexuality and gender identity.
- Reading Well for dementia – includes books about dementia, personal stories about living with dementia, personal experiences of caring and books for children.
Each scheme includes a range of different books, such as book-based CBT, health information, fiction, poetry and personal stories.
Books are also chosen to meet the needs of people with different reading levels. Most Reading Well books are available in different formats including books, e-books and audiobooks.
How to prescribe Reading Well
Referrals to a Reading Well book or booklist can be part of the support you offer, alongside the delivery of existing services and as part of post diagnosis information and support. They can also help whilst people are awaiting treatment.
Each Reading Well booklist has a leaflet listing the recommended books, which can be used to signpost someone to a specific title or the full collection.
Reading Well books can be borrowed for free from public libraries across England and Wales.
“I frequently suggest books and resources to people who want to know about their illness and want to learn how to help themselves…It is so helpful to have a well-chosen list with a range of formats” - NHS GP
How to Use Reading Resources for Mental Health
How Reading Well and Social Prescribing Can Transform Patient Care
The evidence
Reading Well has a long track record of improving patient health outcomes. Research has shown that Books on Prescription:
- Can be an effective social prescribing tool ([Hudson, 2019])
- Serve as an evidence-based method of delivering self-help ([Frude, 2004])
Dr Devin Gray said: “The Reading Well books provide a trusted, evidence-based resource that supports patients’ wellbeing. Reading has the potential to improve emotional and mental wellbeing, encourage positive behaviour change, and normalise conversations about mental health.”
Over 4.3 million Reading Well books have been borrowed from public libraries since 2013. Reading Well is supported by members of the public, GPs, mental health professionals and government ministers as a helpful community-based programme.
Our own evaluation of Reading Well demonstrates the positive impact Reading Well books have on people’s understanding of their health and wellbeing.
- 92% of respondents found their book helpful and 81% said their book helped them to understand more about their health needs.
- 90% of health professionals surveyed said the books helped support people outside of consultation time and feel more confident about self-managing their symptoms.
I[t] has helped me realise what I am experiencing”
Reading Well is endorsed and supported by over 40 partners including Royal College of General Practitioners, Royal College of Psychiatrists, Royal College of Nursing, British Psychological Society, Alzheimer’s Society, Dementia UK, YoungMinds and many more. We also work with a range of co-production partners to ensure people with lived experience inform and shape the schemes.
Everything changes when you read.
If you would like information on how to embed Reading Well titles into your social prescribing practice, contact us at [email protected]
Blog post written by Gemma Jolly, Head of Health and Wellbeing, The Reading Agency
