Reading Well Books on Prescription is a scheme in England to encourage people to manage their health and well-being by reading

self-help book A self-help book is one that is written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems. The books take their name from ''Self-Help'', an 1859 best-seller by Samuel Smiles, but are also known and classified under "self-im ...

s. The scheme was launched in 2013 by the charity

The Reading Agency The Reading Agency is a charity registered in England and Wales which promotes the benefits of reading among children and adults in UK, working with partners including public libraries, colleges and prisons. Operations Sue Wilkinson served as t ...

and the Society of Chief Librarians with funding from

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

. The scheme initially provided reading lists for common

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

conditions (including

anger Anger, also known as wrath or rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat. A person experiencing anger will often experience physical effects, su ...

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

, depression,

phobia A phobia is an anxiety disorder defined by a persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are usually present for more than six months. Those affected go to great lengths to avo ...

s, and

self-harm Self-harm is intentional behavior that is considered harmful to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues usually without a suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-injury and self-mutilatio ...

), but extended this offer to include reading lists for mood-busting books,

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

, young people, and long term conditions. The books on the lists are endorsed by health experts, and can be recommended by GPs or other health professionals, or borrowed without referral from

public libraries A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants. There are five fundamenta ...

in England. The scheme was based on a similar scheme in Wales, which was set up by Professor Neil Frude in 2003 (the Welsh assembly made it available nationally in 2005). Neil Frude said "The doctors are already there, the books are already there and so are the libraries. It just needed joining them up." The scheme is supported by evidence which suggests reading can improve health and wellbeing and its effectiveness is evaluated annually. Results show that in its first year the scheme reached 275,000 people, and libraries saw a 113% increase in loans of the titles on the list.

Support

The scheme has the support of bodies including the

Royal College of General Practitioners The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is the professional body for general (medical) practitioners (GPs/Family Physicians/Primary Care Physicians) in the United Kingdom. The RCGP represents and supports GPs on key issues including l ...

Royal College of Nursing The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Elizabeth II was the patron until her death in 2022. ...

, and

Mind The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...

. In January 2015, the scheme was expanded to include books to assist people affected by

, whether directly or as carers.

Libraries

Local public library systems are supporting the scheme in various ways, including making the books available in branches, providing access through their catalogues, and promoting the lists and the books. In 2015, the findings of a two-year evaluation report into the Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme were published; it claimed that there had been a 97% increase in UK library loans of mental health self-help books, and a 346% increase in the number of books for people with dementia borrowed from libraries in England.

General practice

Some general practices are informing patients about the Reading Well lists as part of their patient information websites.

Book lists

A book list on common mental health conditions in adults was created in 2013. It was followed by a list for people with

and their

carer A caregiver or carer is a paid or unpaid member of a person's social network who helps them with activities of daily living. Since they have no specific professional training, they are often described as informal caregivers. Caregivers most commo ...

s in 2015, and the "Reading Well for Young People" list, aimed at the 13–18 age group and including fiction such as ''

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'' is a 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Its title refers to an observation by the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes (created by Arthur Conan Doyle) in the 1892 short story ...

'', in 2016.

References

External links

* * *{{cite web, title=Books on Prescription: Young people's mental health, url=http://reading-well.org.uk/books/books-on-prescription/young-people-s-mental-health, publisher=The Reading Agency, date=2016 Organizations promoting literacy Self-help books Mental health in the United Kingdom Dementia