The Social Psychology of Social Prescribing

Dr Niamh McNamara is a Social Psychologist and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Nottingham Trent University. Her research explores the impact of group memberships on health and well-being. In particular, she is interested in the ways in which stigma undermines the ability of vulnerable groups in society to access the resources and service essential for good health. Current projects include: the role of social identity dynamics in eating disorder development and recovery; the impact of stigma on experience of mental healthcare; and identifying the social psychological mechanisms underpinning social prescribing interventions. Her work has been published in journals including the European Journal of Social Psychology, the Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, European Eating Disorders Review, and Early Intervention in Psychiatry. She is a reviewer for the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and is a member of the Midlands Social Prescribing Network Steering Group.

 

Research Group Affiliations: Groups, Identities and Health Research Group, NTU

 

Keywords: social identity; identity transition; online communities; recovery; stigma

 

Representative Publications:

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McNamara, N., Coyne, I., Ford, T., Paul, M., Singh, S., & McNicholas, F. (2017). Exploring social identity change during mental healthcare transition. European Journal of Social Psychology, 47, 889-903.

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McNamara, N., & Parsons, H. (2016). 'Everyone here wants everyone else to get better': The role of social identity in eating disorder recovery. British Journal of Social Psychology, 55, 662-680.

 

More at: https://www.ntu.ac.uk/staff-profiles/social-sciences/niamh-mcnamara

Dr Mhairi Bowe is a Social Psychologist, a Senior Lecturer in Psychology, and Associate Course Leader for the MSc Psychological Well-being and Mental Health Course. Mhairi's research is primarily located within social psychology, employing both quantitative and qualitative approaches to explore identity processes in relation to collective, personal, and place-related identities and how they interact with mental health and well-being outcomes. Specific areas of interest include identity transitions, continuity and temporal aspects of identity, mental health and well-being, group processes, social issues and health. Mhairi's existing research focuses on national and community groups, families, individuals recovering from alcohol misuse, aging individuals, and the transition into parenthood. Mhairi’s current research focuses on the links between social isolation and social identity, employing a ‘social cure’ perspective. Mhairi is a Chartered Psychologist, Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

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Research Group Affiliations: Group Identity and Wellbeing; Trauma, Social Isolation and Mental Health; Sleep, NTU

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Keywords: social identity, mental health, social cure, place identity, transitions and continuity

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Representative Publications:

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Kellezi, B. Bowe, M., Wakefield, J., McNamara, N., Bosworth, M., (2019). Understanding and coping with immigration detention: Social identity as cure and curse. European Journal of Social Psychology, 49(2), 333-351.

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Bowe, M., Wakefield, J., McNamara, N., Kellezi, B., Harkin, L., & Jobling, R. (2019). “Sometimes, it’s not just about the food”: The Social Identity dynamics of foodbank helping transactions.  European Journal of Social Psychology, 49(6), 1128-1143.

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Sani, F., Bowe, M. & Herrera, M. (2008). Perceived collective continuity and social well-being. European Journal of

Social Psychology, 38 2), 365-374.

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More at: https://www.ntu.ac.uk/staff-profiles/social-sciences/mhairi-bowe 

Dr Juliet Wakefield is a Social Psychologist, a Senior Lecturer in Psychology. In general terms, Juliet's research interests lie within the domains of Social Identity Theory and Self Categorization Theory, and the implications of group membership for people's everyday lives. This includes intergroup / intragroup helping and help-seeking, the impact of groups on health and well-being, gender identity, national identity, and online identities. Juliet is a member of the European Association of Social Psychology and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

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Research Group Affiliations: Groups, Identities, and Health, NTU

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Keywords: social identity, mental health, social cure, social curse, wellbeing

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Representative Publications:

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Wakefield, J. R., Bowe, M., Kellezi, B., Butcher, A., & Groeger, J. A. (2020). Longitudinal associations between family identification, loneliness, depression, and sleep quality. British Journal of Health Psychology, 25(1), 1-16.

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Cruwys, T., Wakefield, J. R., Sani, F., Dingle, G. A., & Jetten, J. (2018). Social isolation predicts frequent attendance in primary care. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 52(10), 817-829.

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Wakefield, J. R. H., Sani, F., Madhok, V., Norbury, M., Dugard, P., Gabbanelli, C., ... & Paoli, P. (2017). The relationship between group identification and satisfaction with life in a cross-cultural community sample. Journal of Happiness Studies, 18(3), 785-807.

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More at: https://www.ntu.ac.uk/staff-profiles/social-sciences/juliet-wakefield

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Dr Daniel Frings is a Professor at London South Bank University. He is a social psychologist specialising in social identity and group psychology, with a focus on addiction. Within this field, one area of special interest is how social identities can be utilised to improve health outcomes and generally have beneficial effects on group members. He is currently addressing the question of how group identity affects treatment outcome amongst addicts and educational outcomes amongst students. In particular, he is one of two theoreticians who have developed the Social Identity Model of Cessation Maintenance. This model, which is gaining increasing empirical support, outlines the implicit and explicit identity processes which occur when addicts cessate their behaviour. This work directly informs, and is informed by, the literature on social prescribing. Daniel has a strong interest in multi-method research, and has an experience of diverse methodologies, ranging from individual interviews to full scale randomised controlled trials.  His research programmes have been funded by, amongst others the ESRC, CRUK, ARUK, the British Academy, the EU regional development fund and commercial stakeholders. Daniel also serves as the Impact Director for the Centre of Addictive Behaviours Research, as Vice Chair of London South Bank University Research Ethics Panel, a guest editor on various leading addiction related journals, and an as Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Social Psychology.

 

Research Group Affiliations: Centre for Addictive Behaviour Research, London South Bank University

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Keywords: social identity, mental health, social cure, addiction, identity transition

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Representative Publications:

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Marshall, S. W., Albery, I. P., & Frings, D. (2018). Who stays in addiction treatment groups? Anxiety and avoidant attachment styles predict treatment retention and relapse. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 25(4), 525-531.

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Frings, D., & Albery, I. P. (2015). The Social Identity Model of Cessation Maintenance: Formulation and initial evidence. Addictive Behaviors, 44, 35-42.

 

More at: http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/about-us/people/people-finder/dr-daniel-frings

Dr Eleni Vangeli is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Course Director of Undergraduate Psychology at London South Bank University. She is also a Practitioner Health Psychologist registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), a Chartered Psychologist of the British Psychological Society, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

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Eleni is interested in how both social and individual processes influence individuals’ behaviour and in particular the role of identity and groups in behaviour change. Much of her research focus and applied practice has been in the field of addiction and takes an exploratory approach.  This work includes application of experiential methods via in-depth qualitative work, and quantitative methods including the analysis of national household datasets, surveys and systematic reviews, as well as large clinical trials. Taking a mixed-method approach her research with individuals who quit with group support from NHS stop-smoking services highlighted the significance of social identity on smoking cessation, and contributed to the development of the concept of identity in a well-known theory of motivation, PRIME theory.  

 

Eleni’s applied work includes delivery of group smoking cessation interventions, training smoking cessation practitioners in Stage 2 behavioural support skills as a core trainer for the NHS Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT), and development of chronic illness self-management programmes (e.g. online, magazine, text messages) and doctor-patient communication tools.

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Research Group Affiliations: Centre for Addictive Behaviour Research, London South Bank University

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Keywords: social identity,  addiction, identity transition, behaviour change techniques, self-management, doctor-patient communication

 

Representative Publications:

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Meijer, E., Vangeli, E., Gebhardt, W. A., & van Laar, C. (2018). Identity processes in smokers who want to quit smoking: A longitudinal interpretative phenomenological analysis. Health, 1363459318817923.

 

Raupach, T., Falk, J., Vangeli , E., Schiekirka, S., Lindinger, P., Grassi, M.C., Pipe, A., West, R. (2014). Structured smoking cessation training for health professionals on cardiology wards: a prospective study. European Journal of Preventative Cardiology, 21(7), 915-922.

 

Vangeli, E., West, R. (2012). Transition towards a ‘non-smoker’ identity following smoking cessation: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. British Journal of Health Psychology, 17, 171-184.

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More at: http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/about-us/people/people-finder/dr-eleni-vangeli

Dr Debra Gray is a Reader in Social Psychology at the University of Winchester. Her research interests lie in the fields of social, political and community psychology, with a particular focus on the relationship between participation, social identities and intergroup relations, and the impact of this for people’s everyday lives. One focus of this work has been on understanding public/patient participation in health care services and structures. And, she has a developing portfolio work on understanding people’s participation in volunteering, particularly in relation to social identity and intergroup processes; work which has clear implications for models of social prescribing. Her research has been funded by the EPSRC, NHS, and various third sector organisations and commercial stakeholders. Debra leads the Politics, Communities and Identities research group at the University of Winchester and she is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Social and Political Psychology.

Research Group Affiliations: Politics, Communities and Identities, University of Winchester

Representative Publications:

Gray, D. & Manning, R. (2017). Social psychology and participation. In: Advancing social psychology. Milton Keynes: Open University.

Meyrick, J., Gray, D., & Jones, A. (2016). Assessing the possibilities and challenges of patient involvement in sexual, reproductive and HIV/AIDS services. Sexual health, 13(3), 213-220.

More at: https://www.winchester.ac.uk/about-us/leadership-and-governance/staff-directory/staff-profiles/gray.php

Elizabeth Mair is a PhD Candidate at Nottingham Trent University.  Her research interests focus on social and health psychology, using the Social Identity perspective.  This includes evaluating the effects of social prescribing and exploring the impact of online group membership on health and wellbeing through Social Cure processes.
 

Research Group Affiliations: Groups, Identities and Health, NTU
 

Keywords: Social Identity, Social Cure, Online Communities, Health and Wellbeing
 

Representative Publications: O’Hara, L., McNamara, N., Mair, E., O’Connor, C. & McNicholas, F. (Under review). Eating disorder development and recovery as a process of self (re) definition for adolescents and their parents. European Eating Disorders Review.

 James is a PhD researcher in psychology. His current research looks to understand the veteran identity and expand the "social cure" (the beneficial effects of belonging) literature into the veteran populations.

 

Working with the Royal British Legion, and the Royal British Legion Scotland he is looking at identification within branches as well as the precursors to identification. James's research aims to provide recommendations and insights to enhance this feeling of belonging to benefit the individuals as well as the organisations themselves.

 

James is also involved in a project looking at guilds within online games (MMO’s) and the possible benefits of these.

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Research Group Affiliations: Groups, Identities and Health, NTU

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Keywords: Military/veteran, Health and Wellbeing, social identity, masculinity.