Reading well This activity in support of literacy is taking place alongside an enormous interest in the strong links between reading and health. For instance, a study by Verghese, et al (2003) indicates that reading can reduce the risk of dementia by 35% and in 2008 in Canada, regular reading was shown to increase health literacy.
In response to this, The Reading Agency has developed two strands of work under the banner Reading Well which bring together self-help reading and reading for pleasure. Public library services have long been running books on prescription schemes with local NHS services whereby GPs signpost patients to their local library. Now, working with the Society of Chief Librarians, we have initiated a national programme in England based on an original scheme developed in Cardiff by Professor Neil Frude. The Reading Well Books on the Prescription list provides self-help reading for adults based on cognitive behavioural therapy for a range of common mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, phobias and some eating disorders. It has been endorsed by a range of national organisations, including the Royal Colleges of General Practitioners, Nursing and Psychiatrists, the Department of Health through its Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Programme (IAPT), the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies, and The British Psychological Society and Mind. The next steps include developing a similar list focused on dementia.
The second strand, Mood-boosting Books, has been focused on promoting collections of uplifting fiction, non-fiction and poetry titles. These have been chosen by reading groups with an eye to different audiences such as young people and the elderly. We have also worked with Macmillan Cancer Support to involve people who have been diagnosed with cancer in recommending a special list of titles for cancer patients and their carers.
Reading for enjoyment and information truly can transform lives and should be an essential part of all literacy provision for adults. One of our Six Book Challenge completers,
Declan Lapham, in his twenties and from
south Wales, put it very succinctly: 'Reading comes into everything you do in life – you aren't going to get very far without it.'
References Verghese, Jet al (2003) 'Leisure Activities and the Risk of Dementia in the Elderly'. The New England Journal of Medicine Vol. 348 No. 25 pp 2508-2516 Murray, T, et al. (2008) Health Literacy in Canada: A Healthy Understanding. Here
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