727 Link worker delivered social prescribing to improve outcomes for children in a deprived region

Abstract

<h3>Aims</h3> The ten-year Marmot review states ‘austerity will cast a long shadow over the lives of children born and growing up under its effects’ (Marmot 2020), placing childhood experience at the heart of the self-reinforcing effects of poverty. In the West End of Newcastle, inequality is represented in higher levels of childhood obesity, poor mental health and emotional wellbeing and poor educational outcomes in comparison with other areas; much of which are socially determined. An approach that is fast making a difference to how services for intervention are designed and commissioned and to the lives of those in need, is ‘social prescribing’, a key component of Universal Personalised Care, outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan, however, there is scant data pertaining to the use of social prescribing principles with children. To establish if a link worker delivered social prescribing programme improved social-emotional mental health and wellbeing, quality of life and language and communication in at-risk primary school children living in a deprived region of the North-East of England. To establish the acceptability and impact of Zone West from the child and parent perspective. <h3>Methods</h3> 77 children from 6 primary schools aged 7-11 years were identified for inclusion based on screening of social-emotional mental health difficulties and teacher referral. Each child was assigned a Link Worker to support them throughout a social prescribing programme called Zone West. Children took part in 1-to-1 and small group sessions with their Link Worker in school and attended developmentally assigned resources or ‘assets’ in their community on a weekly basis, for a period of 9 months. Standardised questionnaires including the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Paediatric Quality of Life (PedsQL) and Children’s Communication Checklist-2 (CCC-2) were completed pre-and post- Zone West by teachers, parents and children. Parents and children also completed feedback questionnaires post- Zone West. <h3>Results</h3> There was a statistically significant positive effect of Zone West on children’s emotional difficulties, hyperactivity and conduct difficulties (p&lt;0.05) as reported by teachers and parents. Parents also reported a significant positive effect on children’s school functioning (p&lt;0.001) specifically attention in class and ability to keep up at school (p&lt;0.01), and a significant positive effect on children’s speech (p&lt;0.05). 98% of parents reported that Zone West had a ‘positive’ or ‘very positive’ effect on their child’s overall wellbeing, whilst 70% reported Zone West had had a ‘positive’ or ‘very positive’ effect on their family. 97% of children reported they ‘enjoyed’ or ‘enjoyed a lot’ being part Zone West. <h3>Conclusion</h3> We have demonstrated on a small scale that social prescribing using a link worker model can significantly improve social emotional mental health and wellbeing, quality of life and language and communication in primary school children who are at-risk of poor long-term health, educational and social outcomes. The intervention was universally well received. We are now looking to expand our cohort in number and location and evaluate further.