eprintid: 10206630 rev_number: 9 eprint_status: archive userid: 699 dir: disk0/10/20/66/30 datestamp: 2025-03-28 08:39:58 lastmod: 2025-03-28 08:39:58 status_changed: 2025-03-28 08:39:58 type: article metadata_visibility: show sword_depositor: 699 creators_name: Hayes, Daniel creators_name: Burton, Alexandra creators_name: Bu, Feifei creators_name: Humphrey, Neil creators_name: Qualter, Pamela creators_name: Han, Emeline creators_name: Sticpewich, Lou creators_name: Wright, Joely creators_name: Bone, Jessica K creators_name: Maguire, Sophia creators_name: Gonzalez Umpierrez, Lucas Caetano creators_name: Stapley, Emily creators_name: Tibber, Marc S creators_name: Fancourt, Daisy title: INcreasing Adolescent social and Community supporT (INACT): Pilot study protocol ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B02 divisions: D12 divisions: J96 note: Copyright © 2025 Hayes et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. abstract: Background: Social prescribing is a mechanism for connecting patients with non-medical forms of support within the community and has been shown to improve loneliness. Yet uptake from young people (YP) has been lower than for adults. That is thought to be the case because young people are less likely to engage with primary care for wellbeing support, where social prescribing is based. The INACT study will pilot a social prescribing pathway via schools to support young people who are lonely, testing its feasibility and acceptability of delivering, and evaluating its impact on loneliness through a randomised controlled trial. // Methods: This pilot study utilises a two-group (intervention vs. active control) parallel randomised design, with YP as the unit of randomisation. Approximately 78 pupils reporting loneliness will be recruited across 12 mainstream (6 primary and 6 secondary) schools in England. The co-produced social prescribing intervention includes 6-12 sessions over an 8-week period with a Link Worker who will work with individuals, on a one-to-one basis, to understand ‘what matters to them’ and connect them with local sources of support. Pupils in the control group will receive signposting to sources of support from school staff. Data will be collected at baseline, 3- and 6-month follow-up. Acceptability and feasibility will be assessed via participant recruitment and retention, and via qualitative interviews. Interviews will also explore barriers and facilitators to engagement and implementation and mechanisms of change. Primary and secondary outcomes will be completed to assess response and completeness, including measures of loneliness, mental health and wellbeing. // Discussion: The INACT study will provide preliminary evidence of the feasibility and acceptability of both the research design and social prescribing intervention. Results will inform a planned future randomised trial. // Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06656663. date: 2025-03-26 date_type: published publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS) official_url: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0317823 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 2374247 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0317823 lyricists_name: Hayes, Daniel lyricists_name: Burton, Alexandra lyricists_name: Bone, Jessica lyricists_id: DPHAY31 lyricists_id: ABURT01 lyricists_id: JKBON37 actors_name: Hayes, Daniel actors_id: DPHAY31 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: PLoS ONE volume: 20 number: 3 article_number: e0317823 issn: 1932-6203 editors_name: Clemence, Marianne citation: Hayes, Daniel; Burton, Alexandra; Bu, Feifei; Humphrey, Neil; Qualter, Pamela; Han, Emeline; Sticpewich, Lou; ... Fancourt, Daisy; + view all <#> Hayes, Daniel; Burton, Alexandra; Bu, Feifei; Humphrey, Neil; Qualter, Pamela; Han, Emeline; Sticpewich, Lou; Wright, Joely; Bone, Jessica K; Maguire, Sophia; Gonzalez Umpierrez, Lucas Caetano; Stapley, Emily; Tibber, Marc S; Fancourt, Daisy; - view fewer <#> (2025) INcreasing Adolescent social and Community supporT (INACT): Pilot study protocol. PLoS ONE , 20 (3) , Article e0317823. 10.1371/journal.pone.0317823 <https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0317823>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10206630/1/Hayes_journal.pone.0317823.pdf