Social Prescribing for Advancing Resilience in Kids: A Pilot Study of Social Prescribing

NCT07022561 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: NCT-25-03-0163
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 170
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if the Social Prescription (SP) intervention helps improve mental health and wellbeing in youth. It will also assess the feasibility and acceptability of implementing SP in a community setting. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Is the SP intervention feasible and acceptable for youth, caregivers, and staff?
• Does the SP intervention improve mental health outcomes, reduce stress, and increase wellbeing and social connectedness in youth? Researchers will compare the Social Prescription (SP) intervention to an education control group to evaluate its effectiveness in improving youth mental health and wellbeing. Participants will:
• Be randomized to receive either the SP intervention or be placed in an education control group
• Complete wellbeing and mental health questionnaires at the beginning of the study and again after 12 weeks
• Participate in qualitative interviews to share their experiences after participating in SP

Conditions

Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing; Feasibility and Acceptability of the Social Prescribing Program

Keywords

social prescribing; children and youth mental health; intervention; wellbeing

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (5)

• Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale

  The Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) is a self-report questionnaire that measures symptoms of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents aged 8 to 18.

  From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks.

• Perceived Stress Scale

  The Perceived Stress Scale is a widely used to help understand how different situations affect our feelings and our perceived stress.

  From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks.

• Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale

  The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) was developed to enable the monitoring of mental wellbeing in the general population and the evaluation of projects, programmes and policies which aim to improve mental wellbeing.

  From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks

• Social Connectedness Scale

  The Social Connectedness Scale measures the extent to which individuals feel connected to others in their social environment.

  From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks

• Student Resilience Survey

  Student Resilience Survey measuring students' perceptions of their individual characteristics as well as protective factors embedded in the environment:

  From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Acceptability of Intervention Measure

  From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks

• Intervention Appropriateness Measure

  From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks

• Feasibility of Intervention Measure

  From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks

Study Arms (2)

Social prescribing intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Youth randomly assigned to the social prescribing intervention group will have access to a social prescribing activity during their 12 weeks of participation.

Behavioral: Social Prescribing

Educational control

NO INTERVENTION

Youth randomly assigned to the educational control will not be provided a social prescribing intervention program, but they will be provided an educational booklet about the importance of connections.

Interventions

Social Prescribing BEHAVIORAL

A social prescribing intervention is a non-clinical approach to improving health and wellbeing by connecting individuals to community-based services and activities that address social, emotional, and practical needs. These may include arts programs, physical activity, peer support, volunteering, or nature-based activities. Facilitated by a link worker or navigator, social prescribing is tailored to the individual and aims to enhance mental health, reduce isolation, and support overall wellness beyond traditional medical care.

Social prescribing intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 11 Years - 17 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• between 11-17 years of age
• on the waitlist for mental health services
• are not an immediate safety threat to themselves or others as assessed by the HEADS ED questionnaire

You may not qualify if:

• Children \< 11 years old
• Adolescents \> 17 years old

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Ottawa: lead
• Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Ottawa

Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5, Canada

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Kempe S, Bennett S, MacLeod O, Mohamed N, Cloutier P, Muhl C, Hayes D, Mitsakakis N, Goldfield G, Racine N. Social prescriptions for advancing resilience in kids (SPARK): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychol. 2025 Oct 10;13(1):1126. doi: 10.1186/s40359-025-03465-7.

  PMID: 41074116 DERIVED

Study Officials

• Nicole Racine, PhD

  University of Ottawa

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Susan Bennett, PhD

CONTACT

(613) 608-6601; nracine2@uottawa.ca

Olivia MacLeod, PhD

CONTACT

omacleod@cheo.on.ca

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 6, 2025
• First Posted: June 15, 2025
• Study Start: July 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 30, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2027
• Last Updated: June 15, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CA (1)