In a week where Nick Clegg announced new mental health waiting time standards, there was also positive news closer to home. Today is World Mental Health Day and the council announced that over 1,000 people locally have benefitted from the ground-breaking Reading Well Books on Prescription programme.
This involves the library service working closely with LIFT Psychology, part of the South Gloucestershire Wellbeing therapies service, to offer book-based therapy for common mental health conditions. GPs and health professionals prescribe books through the scheme, but they are also available for anyone to borrow from any public library.
South Gloucestershire Council was the lead authority for the bid to the Arts Council England which resulted in the national scheme being implemented and then rolled out to public libraries across England. Since launching in June 2013, the national Books on Prescription scheme has reached around 275,000 people across England and has played an important role in helping to meet the huge need for mental health support.
Following the success of the programme, a new Reading Well Books on Prescription for dementia scheme will be launched in South Gloucestershire libraries in January 2015.
For more details of the scheme pick up a leaflet from your local library or visit www.southglos.gov.uk/readingwell
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