CAMHS and Social Prescribing Applications

NCT07143383 | Not Yet Recruiting DMC

• 1 other identifier: 177012
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 120
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

Background: Social prescribing (SP) is a mechanism for linking patients with non-medical forms of community support and has demonstrated mental health benefits for adults and young people (YP). However, SP is predominantly based in primary care, which limits accessibility for YP who typically engage less with this setting. Within CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services), SP has only recently begun to be trialed, mainly as a pre-treatment option while waiting for care. The CASPA study will pilot a novel SP pathway embedded after the start of psychological treatment in CAMHS, aiming to test its feasibility, acceptability, and potential impact on mental health and wellbeing through a randomized controlled trial. Methods: CASPA is a two-group (intervention vs. active control) parallel randomized pilot study with YP as the unit of randomization. A total of 120 YP aged 11-18, who have started psychological treatment for emotional difficulties in one of three CAMHS sites in England, will be recruited. Participants in the intervention group will receive a co-produced, person-centered SP pathway involving up to six sessions with a trained Link Worker (LW). These sessions will help identify 'what matters to them' and connect YP with locally mapped community activities and support (e.g. arts, sports, volunteering). Participants in the control group will receive signposting to the same community resources via a leaflet from CAMHS staff or researchers. Quantitative data will be collected at baseline, 3-month and 6-month follow-up, including measures of resilience, mental health, wellbeing, service use, and quality of life. Primary outcomes include feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness of the intervention, assessed through validated measures and participation metrics, alongside any evidence of impact. Qualitative interviews with YP, CAMHS staff, and LWs will explore implementation experiences, barriers, facilitators, and mechanisms of impact. Discussion: The CASPA study will generate preliminary evidence regarding the feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness of offering SP after psychological treatment within CAMHS has started. It will also provide early insights into whether this approach can improve outcomes for YP with emotional difficulties. Findings will inform decisions on the design and justification for a future full-scale clinical and cost-effectiveness trial.

Conditions

Mental Health

Keywords

Social prescribing; CAMHS; Mental health; Child; Young person

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Acceptability (young people)

  YP: Acceptability will be assessed using an item from the Friends and Family test, which asks individuals to rate how likely they would be to recommend the service (in this instance, the SP pathway). It is assessed on a five-point Likert Scale, ranging from '1' Extremely Unlikely to '5' Extremely Likely. Higher scores indicate better acceptability.

  3 and 6 months

Secondary Outcomes (11)

• Acceptability (CAMHS Staff and LWs)

  6 months

• Feasibility (young people)

  Post intervention (t least 3 months)

• Feasibility (CAMHS Staff and LWs)

  6 months

• Appropriateness (young people)

  3 and 6 months

• Appropriateness (CAMHS Staff and LWs)

  6 months

Other Outcomes (9)

• Emotional Regulation: ERICA

  Baseline, 3 and 6 months

• Community connection: subscale of Student Resilience Survey

  Baseline, 3 and 6 months

• Self-esteem: subscale of Student Resilience Survey

  Baseline, 3 and 6 months

Study Arms (2)

Social Prescribing

EXPERIMENTAL

SP is a person-centered approach to wellbeing involving the co-development of a non-clinical prescription, between an individual (i.e. young person) and Link Workers (LWs), based on the perceived difficulties for the referral and the YPs values, needs and preferences. LWs have a good knowledge of their local areas, via community asset mapping and networking, allowing them to connect individuals with different types of available support and activities. Typically, SP ranges from 6-12 sessions (average 8 sessions: unpublished data from sites) with a LW over an 8-week period. Sessions may take place online, via phone call, or in person. As part of this process, LWs draw on psychological skills such as motivational interviewing and behavioral activation as well as employ problem solving and goal setting. Following the identification of issues and preferences, the LW will discuss with the YP what the available local activities and support structures are that match their preferences.

Behavioral: Social Prescribing

Signposting

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Those in the control group will receive signposting to activities and local sources of support in their communities. This will consist of a CAMHS clinician or researcher meeting with YP identified and providing them with a leaflet detailing the same local sources of support identified by the LW from asset mapping.

Behavioral: Signposting

Interventions

Social Prescribing BEHAVIORAL

SP is a person-centered approach to wellbeing involving the co-development of a non-clinical prescription, between an individual (i.e. young person) and Link Workers (LWs), based on the perceived difficulties for the referral and the YPs values, needs and preferences. LWs have a good knowledge of their local areas, via community asset mapping and networking, allowing them to connect individuals with different types of available support and activities. Typically, SP ranges from 6-12 sessions (average 8 sessions: unpublished data from sites) with a LW over an 8-week period. Sessions may take place online, via phone call, or in person. As part of this process, LWs draw on psychological skills such as motivational interviewing and behavioral activation as well as employ problem solving and goal setting. Following the identification of issues and preferences, the LW will discuss with the YP what the available local activities and support structures are that match their preferences.

Social Prescribing

Signposting BEHAVIORAL

Those in the control group will receive signposting to activities and local sources of support in their communities. This will consist of a CAMHS clinician or researcher meeting with YP identified and providing them with a leaflet detailing the same local sources of support identified by the LW from asset mapping.

Signposting

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 11 Years - 18 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• (i) CAMHS
• Wish to participate in CASPA
• Located in England
• (ii) YP Participants
• Aged between 11 to 18 years
• Capacity to give assent (if under 16), or
• Capacity to give informed consent (if aged 16 or over or has Gillick competence if aged under 16)
• Have started psychological treatment in CAMHS for an emotional difficulty (e.g. depression, anxiety)
• (iii) Parent/Guardian Participants
• Aged 18 or over
• Capacity to give informed consent for YP involvement in CASPA (when the YP is aged between 11-15 and lacks Gillick competence)
• (iv) CAMHS staff and LWs:
• Aged 18 or over
• Capacity to give informed consent to participate in CASPA

You may not qualify if:

• YP with emotional difficulties put on an enhanced specialist pathway due to another severe and complex difficulty which requires intensive input (e.g. anorexia, psychosis or severe and complex difficulties (as judged by the assessing clinician))

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University College, London: lead
• National Academy for Social Prescribing: collaborator
• We Do Wellbeing: collaborator

Related Publications (10)

• Weiner BJ, Lewis CC, Stanick C, Powell BJ, Dorsey CN, Clary AS, Boynton MH, Halko H. Psychometric assessment of three newly developed implementation outcome measures. Implement Sci. 2017 Aug 29;12(1):108. doi: 10.1186/s13012-017-0635-3.

  PMID: 28851459 BACKGROUND

• Stevens K. Developing a descriptive system for a new preference-based measure of health-related quality of life for children. Qual Life Res. 2009 Oct;18(8):1105-13. doi: 10.1007/s11136-009-9524-9. Epub 2009 Aug 20.

  PMID: 19693703 BACKGROUND

• Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JB, Lowe B. A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7. Arch Intern Med. 2006 May 22;166(10):1092-7. doi: 10.1001/archinte.166.10.1092.

  PMID: 16717171 BACKGROUND

• PISA (2022): PISA 2022 Assessment and Analytical Framework. OECD; 2023. doi:10.1787/dfe0bf9c-en

  BACKGROUND

• ONS (2003). Personal well-being in the UK: April 2022 to March 2023. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/bulletins/measuringnationalwellbeing/april2022tomarch2023

  BACKGROUND

• MSC (2011): UCL Social Research Institute Centre for Longitudinal Studies (2011). MCS Age 11 Child Self-Completion Questionnaire: England.

  BACKGROUND

• EBPU. Session Feedback Questionnaire . London; 2012. Available: https://www.corc.uk.net/media/1405/sfq_questionnaire.pdf

  BACKGROUND

• MacDermott, S. T., Gullone, E., Allen, J. S., King, N. J., & Tonge, B. (2010). The emotion regulation index for children and adolescents (ERICA): A psychometric investigation. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 32(3), 301-314. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-009-9154-0

  BACKGROUND

• Demkowicz, O., Panayiotou, M., Ashworth, E., Humphrey, N., & Deighton, J. (2019). The factor structure of the 4-item Perceived Stress Scale in English adolescents. European Journal of Psychological Assessment.

  BACKGROUND

• Angold, A., Costello, E. J., Messer, S. C., Pickles, A., Winder, F., & Silver, D. (1995). Development of a short questionnaire for use in epidemiological studies of depression in children and adolescents (Vol. 5, pp. 237-249).

  BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Psychological Well-Being

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Personal Satisfaction; Behavior

Central Study Contacts

Daniel Hayes, PhD

CONTACT

07747444010; d.hayes@ucl.ac.uk

Robert Booth, PhD

CONTACT

robert.booth@ucl.ac.uk

Study Design

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

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 19, 2025
• First Posted: August 27, 2025
• Study Start: September 15, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): February 28, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 31, 2027
• Last Updated: September 10, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09