Youth Mental Health and WellbeingSPARKNCT07022561
Social Prescribing for Advancing Resilience in Kids: A Pilot Study of Social Prescribing
A study testing Social Prescribing in people with Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing and Feasibility and Acceptability of the Social Prescribing Program, run by University of Ottawa at 1 site in Canada.
Trial summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if the Social Prescription (SP) intervention helps improve mental health and wellbeing in youth. It will also assess the feasibility and acceptability of implementing SP in a community setting. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 11 to 17 years
- Conditions the study is for
- Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing, Feasibility and Acceptability of the Social Prescribing Program
- What is being tested?
- Social Prescribing
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 170 participants
- Where
- 1 siteCanada
- Study dates
- 1 Jul 2025to 1 Sep 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 11 to 17 years
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Child
Who may be able to join
- between 11-17 years of age
- on the waitlist for mental health services
- are not an immediate safety threat to themselves or others as assessed by the HEADS ED questionnaire
Who cannot join
- Children < 11 years old
- Adolescents > 17 years old
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Olivia MacLeod, PhD contact
Canada1 site
University of Ottawa
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5
Nicole Racine, PhD, C. Psych, 403-992-7869, nracine2@uottawa.ca
About this study
Official title: Social Prescribing for Advancing Resilience in Kids (SPARK): A Pilot Study of Social Prescribing for Children and Youth Mental Health in Canada
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if the Social Prescription (SP) intervention helps improve mental health and wellbeing in youth. It will also assess the feasibility and acceptability of implementing SP in a community setting. The main questions it aims to answer are:
- Is the SP intervention feasible and acceptable for youth, caregivers, and staff?
- Does the SP intervention improve mental health outcomes, reduce stress, and increase wellbeing and social connectedness in youth?
Read more
Researchers will compare the Social Prescription (SP) intervention to an education control group to evaluate its effectiveness in improving youth mental health and wellbeing.
Participants will:
- Be randomized to receive either the SP intervention or be placed in an education control group
- Complete wellbeing and mental health questionnaires at the beginning of the study and again after 12 weeks
- Participate in qualitative interviews to share their experiences after participating in SP
- Conditions
- Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing, Feasibility and Acceptability of the Social Prescribing Program
- Being tested
- Social Prescribing
- Keywords
- social prescribing, children and youth mental health, intervention, wellbeing
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Social PrescribingBehavioural
A social prescribing intervention is a non-clinical approach to improving health and wellbeing by connecting individuals to community-based services and activities that address social, emotional, and practical needs. These may include arts programs, physical activity, peer support, volunteering, or nature-based activities. Facilitated by a link worker or navigator, social prescribing is tailored to the individual and aims to enhance mental health, reduce isolation, and support overall wellness beyond traditional medical care.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Social prescribing intervention | Experimental | Youth randomly assigned to the social prescribing intervention group will have access to a social prescribing activity during their 12 weeks of participation. Receives: Behavioral: Social Prescribing |
| Educational control | No intervention | Youth randomly assigned to the educational control will not be provided a social prescribing intervention program, but they will be provided an educational booklet about the importance of connections. |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale
The Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) is a self-report questionnaire that measures symptoms of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents aged 8 to 18.
Measured: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks.
Perceived Stress Scale
The Perceived Stress Scale is a widely used to help understand how different situations affect our feelings and our perceived stress.
Measured: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks.
Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale
The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) was developed to enable the monitoring of mental wellbeing in the general population and the evaluation of projects, programmes and policies which aim to improve mental wellbeing.
Measured: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks
Social Connectedness Scale
The Social Connectedness Scale measures the extent to which individuals feel connected to others in their social environment.
Measured: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks
Student Resilience Survey
Student Resilience Survey measuring students' perceptions of their individual characteristics as well as protective factors embedded in the environment:
Measured: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks
Secondary outcomes (3)
Acceptability of Intervention Measure
The Acceptability of Intervention Measure evaluates how agreeable or satisfactory an intervention is perceived to be by participants or implementers.
Measured: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks
Intervention Appropriateness Measure
The Intervention Appropriateness Measure assesses the perceived relevance or suitability of an intervention for a specific setting or population.
Measured: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks
Feasibility of Intervention Measure
The Feasibility of Intervention Measure gauges how practical and possible it is to implement an intervention within a given setting.
Measured: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted15 Jun 2025
- Study start1 Jul 2025 (estimated)
- Primary completion30 Jul 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion1 Sep 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (1)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Youth Mental Health and WellbeingStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 170 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of Ottawa
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Nicole Racine, PhD, Principal investigator, University of Ottawa
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07022561
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- NCT-25-03-0163
- Acronym
- SPARK
- Status last verified
- May 2025
- First submitted
- 6 Jun 2025
- Last updated
- 15 Jun 2025
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No: We will not be sharing individual participant data outside of our affiliations and institutions.
Publications
Kempe S, Bennett S, MacLeod O, Mohamed N, Cloutier P, Muhl C, Hayes D, Mitsakakis N, Goldfield G, Racine N. Social prescriptions for advancing resilience in kids (SPARK): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychol. 2025 Oct 10;13(1):1126. doi: 10.1186/s40359-025-03465-7.
PubMed 41074116
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 15 Jun 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Social Prescribing for Advancing Resilience in Kids (SPARK): A Pilot Study of Social Prescribing for Children and Youth Mental Health in Canada
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07022561
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- SPARK / NCT-25-03-0163
- Conditions
- Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing, Feasibility and Acceptability of the Social Prescribing Program
- Keywords
- social prescribing, children and youth mental health, intervention, wellbeing
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrolment
- 170 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- University of OttawaUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute
- Study start
- 1 Jul 2025 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- 30 Jul 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 1 Sep 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 15 Jun 2025 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if the Social Prescription (SP) intervention helps improve mental health and wellbeing in youth. It will also assess the feasibility and acceptability of implementing SP in a community setting. The main questions it aims to answer are:
- Is the SP intervention feasible and acceptable for youth, caregivers, and staff?
- Does the SP intervention improve mental health outcomes, reduce stress, and increase wellbeing and social connectedness in youth?
Researchers will compare the Social Prescription (SP) intervention to an education control group to evaluate its effectiveness in improving youth mental health and wellbeing.
Participants will:
- Be randomized to receive either the SP intervention or be placed in an education control group
- Complete wellbeing and mental health questionnaires at the beginning of the study and again after 12 weeks
- Participate in qualitative interviews to share their experiences after participating in SP
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Social prescribing intervention | Experimental | Behavioral: Social PrescribingYouth randomly assigned to the social prescribing intervention group will have access to a social prescribing activity during their 12 weeks of participation. |
| Educational control | No intervention | –Youth randomly assigned to the educational control will not be provided a social prescribing intervention program, but they will be provided an educational booklet about the importance of connections. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 11 to 17 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Child
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- between 11-17 years of age
- on the waitlist for mental health services
- are not an immediate safety threat to themselves or others as assessed by the HEADS ED questionnaire
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Children < 11 years old
- Adolescents > 17 years old
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Social PrescribingA social prescribing intervention is a non-clinical approach to improving health and wellbeing by connecting individuals to community-based services and activities that address social, emotional, and practical needs. These may include arts programs, physical activity, peer support, volunteering, or nature-based activities. Facilitated by a link worker or navigator, social prescribing is tailored to the individual and aims to enhance mental health, reduce isolation, and support overall wellness beyond traditional medical care. | Behavioural | Social prescribing intervention |
Primary outcome
Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale
Time frame: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks.
The Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) is a self-report questionnaire that measures symptoms of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents aged 8 to 18.
Perceived Stress Scale
Time frame: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks.
The Perceived Stress Scale is a widely used to help understand how different situations affect our feelings and our perceived stress.
Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale
Time frame: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks
The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) was developed to enable the monitoring of mental wellbeing in the general population and the evaluation of projects, programmes and policies which aim to improve mental wellbeing.
Social Connectedness Scale
Time frame: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks
The Social Connectedness Scale measures the extent to which individuals feel connected to others in their social environment.
Student Resilience Survey
Time frame: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks
Student Resilience Survey measuring students' perceptions of their individual characteristics as well as protective factors embedded in the environment:
3 secondary outcomes
Acceptability of Intervention Measure
Time frame: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks
Intervention Appropriateness Measure
Time frame: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks
Feasibility of Intervention Measure
Time frame: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 15 Jun 2025.
- Derived from this study: PubMed 41074116Kempe S, Bennett S, MacLeod O, Mohamed N, Cloutier P, Muhl C, Hayes D, Mitsakakis N, Goldfield G, Racine N. Social prescriptions for advancing resilience in kids (SPARK): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychol. 2025 Oct 10;13(1):1126. doi: 10.1186/s40359-025-03465-7.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No. We will not be sharing individual participant data outside of our affiliations and institutions.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Olivia MacLeod, PhD contact
Nicole Racine, PhD principal investigator
University of Ottawa
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Social Prescribing in people with Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing and Feasibility and Acceptability of the Social Prescribing Program, run by University of Ottawa at 1 site in Canada.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 15 Jun 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Canada. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Susan Bennett, PhD ((613) 608-6601, nracine2@uottawa.ca), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale (time frame: From enrollment to end of treatment or control period at 12 weeks.). The study lists 5 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT07022561, which also lists 1 linked publication.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 15 Jun 2025.