INcreasing Adolescent Social and Community SupporT - Pilot
- Conditions
- Loneliness
- Registration Number
- NCT06656663
- Lead Sponsor
- University College, London
- Brief Summary
Background: Social prescribing is a mechanism of connecting patients with non-medical forms of support within the community and has been shown to improve loneliness. Yet uptake from young people has been lower than for adults. This is thought to be due to accessibility issues as young people are less likely to draw on primary care, where social prescribing in based, for wellbeing support. INACT will pilot a social prescribing pathway via schools to support young people who are lonely. It will test the feasibility and acceptability of delivering and evaluating it through a randomised controlled trial.
Methods: 78 pupils reporting loneliness will be recruited across 12 mainstream (6 primary and 6 secondary) schools in England and be randomly allocated to signposting or social prescribing. Pupils in the control group will receive signposting to sources of support from school staff. The co-produced social prescribing intervention includes up to 6 sessions with a Link Worker who will work with individuals to understand 'what matters to them' and connect them with local sources of support. Data will be collected at baseline, 3- and 6-months later. Acceptability and feasibility will be assessed via recruitment and retention, as well as via qualitative interviews. Interviews will also explore barriers, facilitators and mechanisms of change. Potential primary and secondary outcomes for a future trial will be completed to assess response and completeness, including measures of loneliness, mental health and wellbeing.
Discussion: INACT will provide preliminary evidence of the feasibility and acceptability of both the research design and social prescribing intervention. Results will inform a potential future randomised trial.
- Detailed Description
Not available
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 78
- Children and young people in a participating school and in Years 4, 5 or 7, 8
- Parental consent and young person assent is provided
- A score of 6 or above on the Good Childhood Index loneliness questions
- Private schools
- Children and young people with severe learning disabilities
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Loneliness 3 Months Good Childhood Index is assessed using 3 questions on a 3-point Likert scale (scoring between 3-9). Higher scores indicate higher reported loneliness.
Intervention Feasibility (School Staff and Link Workers) 6 months Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM) is assessed using 4 questions each on a five-point Likert scale (scoring between 4-20). Higher scores indicate higher intervention feasibility
Intervention Acceptability (School Staff and Link Workers) 6 months Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM) is assessed using 4 questions each on a five-point Likert scale (scoring between 4-20). Higher scores indicate higher intervention acceptability
Intervention Appropriateness (School Staff and Link Workers) 6 months Intervention Appropriateness Measure (IAM) is assessed using 4 questions each on a five-point Likert scale (scoring between 4-20). Higher scores indicate higher intervention appropriateness
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Peer loneliness 3 and 6 months LACA - Peer Subscale is assessed using 12 questions each on a four-point Likert scale (scoring between 12-48). Higher scores indicate higher peer loneliness
Wellbeing 3 and 6 months Kidscreen-52 is assessed using 6 questions each on a five-point Likert scale (scoring between 6-30). Higher scores indicate greater well-being.
Mental health (emotional difficulties) 3 and 6 months Me and My feelings is assessed using 10 questions on a 3-point Likert scale (scoring between 0-20). Higher scores indicate higher emotional difficulties
Service Use 3 and 6 months Client Service Receipt of Inventory is assessed using 11 questions on a five-point Likert scale. Scoring can be looked at by individual items (i.e. score between 1-5) or by scoring all items (i.e. scores between 11-55). Higher scores indicate more contact with a service/services.
Stress 3 and 6 months Perceived Stress Scale 4 is assessed using 4 questions on a five-point Likert scale (scoring between 0-16). Higher scores indicate higher levels of perceived stress
Loneliness 6 Months Good Childhood Index is assessed using 3 questions on a three-point Likert scale (scoring between 3-9). Higher scores indicate higher reported loneliness.
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
University College London
🇬🇧Greater London, United Kingdom