NEWS
NEW PAPER: DIVERSITY OF GROUP MEMBERSHIPS PREDICTS WELL-BEING: CROSS-SECTIONAL AND LONGITUDINAL EVIDENCE
September 30, 2023
A new paper has been published by NTU Social Identity Group members Prof. Clifford Stevenson, Dr. Juliet Wakefield, and Dr. Emanuele Fino. The abstract reads: Groups have their health and well-being impacted by satisfying their members’ needs and providing resources to help cope with threats. Multiple group memberships serve to accumulate these benefits and also provide resilience to the effects of group loss. However, the additional well-being benefits of belonging to multiple different types of group remain to be determined. In a preregistered cross-sectional survey in Nottingham, England (Study 1, N = 328), we found that group-type diversity predicted well-being and that this effect was fully serially mediated by increased creative self-efficacy, then reduced loneliness. To confirm our hypothesis in a more robust sample we conducted longitudinal analyses on the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA) dataset (Study 2, N = 5,838) finding that group-type diversity at time one (T1) predicted well-being at T2 (4 years later), even when accounting for wellbeing and loneliness at T1. We discuss the implications for enhancing group-based health interventions.
PHD. SUCCESS
July 26, 2023
Two NTU Social Identity Group PhD. candidates graduated in July 2023: Dr. James McIntosh and Dr. Ardiana Shala. Many congratulations to them both!
NEW PAPER: MULTIPLE GROUP IDENTIFICATIONS AND IDENTITY COMPATIBILITY IN EATING DISORDER RECOVERY: A MIXED METHODS STUDY
June 26th, 2023
A new paper by GIH members Associate Prof. Niamh McNamara, Dr. Juliet Wakefield, Libby Mair, Dr. Mike Rennoldson, Prof. Clifford Stevenson, and Wendy Fitzsimmons has been published in the Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology. The abstract reads: Eating disorder recovery is an identity transition characterised by ambivalence, in which group memberships play an important part. However, our understanding of how memberships of groups with different recovery norms (i.e., supportive vs. unsupportive of recovery) can facilitate or inhibit recovery is limited. To address this gap, this study adopted the Social Identity Model of Recovery to examine how recovery is manifest through the changing composition of an individual's group memberships. We employed a convergent mixed methods design to quantitatively determine whether specific groups (i.e., family, friends, and online groups) are more helpful to eating disorder recovery than others, and to qualitatively explore how group (in)compatibility shapes recovery efforts. There was a high level of convergence across survey (N = 112) and interview (N = 12) data: groups could have a positive or negative impact according to their recovery norms; different groups provided different forms of support and identity-expression; incompatibility was not always experienced as a problem and could afford strategic benefits. Our findings are amongst the first to attest to the importance of considering identity networks (and their normative content) during eating disorder recovery.
RESEARCH DISCUSSED IN GOVERNMENT PAPER
Oct 4, 2022
The NTU Social Identity Research Group's article on mutual helping during COVID-19 has been discussed in a UK Government Communication Service paper on entitled 'Crisis Communication: A Behavioural Approach'. The paper can be found here.
ICSIH5 A BIG SUCCESS
June 24th, 2022
The fifth International Conference on Social Identity and Health took place at Nottingham Trent University on 23rd-24th June, with Pre-Conference events on the 22nd June. The conference involved Feature Talks, Focus Talks, Poster Sessions, and Roundtable events featuring researchers and practitioners from across the world. For more information, please see www.icsih.com There is also a Special Issue Call for the Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology entitled "Articles From and Inspired By ICSIH5". The deadline is December 16th 2022-see here for more information.
ICSIH5 CONFERENCE
June 22nd 2022
The Fifth International Conference on Social Identity and Health Takes place on June 23rd-24th at Nottingham Trent University, with pre-conference events on the 22nd. For more details, please see www.icsih.com
NEW PAPER: COMMUNITIES AS CONDUITS OF HARM: A SOCIAL IDENTITY ANALYSIS OF APPRAISAL, COPING AND JUSTICE-SEEKING IN RESPONSE TO HISTORIC COLLECTIVE VICTIMIZATION
April 10th, 2022
A new paper by NTU Social Identity Research Group members Associate Professor Blerina Kellezi, Dr. Juliet Wakefield, and Dr. Mhairi Bowe, as well as Dr. Andrew Livingstone and Aurora Guxholli has been published in the Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology. The abstract reads: "Social identity approach (SIA) research shows that community members often work together to support survivors of collective victimization and rectify social injustices. However, complexities arise when community members have been involved in perpetrating these injustices. While many communities are unaware of their role in fostering victimization, others actively deny their role and responsibility to restore justice. We explore these processes by investigating experiences of community violence and collective justice-seeking among Albanian survivors of dictatorial crimes. Survivors (N = 27) were interviewed, and data were analysed using theoretical thematic analysis guided by the SIA. The analysis reveals the diverse ways communities can become harmful ‘Social Curses’. First, communities in their various forms became effective perpetrators of fear and control (e.g., exclusion and/or withholding ingroup privileges) during the dictatorship because of the close relationship between communities and their members. Second, communities caused harm by refusing to accept responsibility for the crimes, and by undermining attempts at collective action to address injustices. This lack of collective accountability also fosters survivors' feelings of exclusion and undermines their hope for systematic change. Implications for SIA processes relating to health/wellbeing (both Social Cure and Curse) are discussed. We also discuss implications for understanding collective action and victimhood."
PHD STUDENTSHIP SUCCESS
April 8th, 2022
The NTU Social Identity Research Group had success in the most recent round of NTU PhD Studentships. Chase Staras will be supervised by Dr. Beth Jones and co-supervised by Dr. Juliet Wakefield and Dr. Mhairi Bowe. Chase will begin their PhD studentship in October 2022, and will be using Social Prescribing to develop a new healthcare initiative for trans and gender diverse people. More details of our PhD candidates can be found here.
NEW PAPER: THE LINK BETWEEN FAMILY IDENTIFICATION, LONELINESS, AND SYMPTOM SEVERITY IN PEOPLE WITH EATING DISORDERS
February 22, 2022
A new paper by Associate Professor Niamh McNamara, Dr. Juliet Wakefield, Associate Professor Tegan Cruwys, Adam Potter, Dr. Beth Jones, and Dr. Sara McDevitt explores the link between family identification, loneliness, and symptom severity in people with eating disorders. The abstract reads: Families play an important role in eating disorder (ED) recovery, and it has been suggested that they can ameliorate the loneliness associated with EDs. However, the psychological mechanisms through which this occurs have yet to be systematically explored. Utilising the Social Identity Approach to Health, we explore whether identification with one's family group positively predicts health in people with self-reported EDs due to its potential to reduce feelings of loneliness. We investigate this in two online questionnaire studies (N = 82; N = 234), one conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic and the second conducted in its early stages. In both studies, mediation analyses demonstrated that family identification was associated with fewer and less severe self-reported ED symptoms, and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, reduced self-reported ED-related impact and anxiety. In both studies, these benefits were suggestive of a protective role of family identification against loneliness. Our findings provide a framework for understanding in general why families can be considered an important social recovery resource and should be included in the treatment of adult EDs.
NEW PAPER: WHO HELPS AND WHY? A LONGITUDINAL EXPLORATION OF VOLUNTEER ROLE IDENTITY, BETWEEN-GROUP CLOSENESS, AND COMMUNITY IDENTIFICATION AS PREDICTORS OF COORDINATED HELPING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
February 4th, 2022
A new paper by Dr. Juliet Wakefield, Dr. Mhairi Bowe, and Associate Prof. Blerina Kellezi explores the psychological processes that predicts COVID-19 coordinated help-giving in pre-existing volunteers. The abstract reads: Mutual aid groups have allowed community members to respond collectively to the COVID-19 pandemic, providing essential support to the vulnerable. While research has begun to explore the benefits of participating in these groups, there is a lack of work investigating who is likely to engage in this form of aid-giving, although early accounts suggest that existing volunteers have played a significant part in the mutual aid phenomena. Taking a social identity approach, the present study sought to identify what social psychological processes predict this continued engagement by exploring predictors of coordinated COVID-19 aid-giving for pre-existing volunteers. A two-wave longitudinal online survey study (N = 214) revealed that volunteer role identity among existing volunteers at T1 (pre-pandemic) was positively associated with volunteer-beneficiary between-group closeness at T1, which in turn was positively associated with community identification at T1. This in turn positively predicted coordinated COVID-19 aid-giving at T2 (3 months later). This paper therefore reveals the intra- and intergroup predictors of pandemic-related coordinated aid-giving in pre-existing volunteers. Implications for voluntary organisations and emergency voluntary aid provision are discussed.
NEW PAPER: WEATHERING THE ECONOMIC STORM TOGETHER: FAMILY IDENTIFICATION PREDICTS FUTURE WELL-BEING DURING COVID-19 VIA ENHANCED FINANCIAL RESILIENCE
January 25th, 2022
A new paper by Prof. Clifford Stevenson, Dr. Juliet Wakefield, Dr. Mhairi Bowe, Associate Prof. Blerina Kellezi, Dr. Beth Jones, and Associate Prof. Niamh McNamara shows that family identification predicts future wellbeing during COVID-19 via enhanced financial resilience. The abstract reads: The economic crisis precipitated by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has placed considerable financial pressures on households across the world. These are compounded by the enforced isolation accompanying pandemic restrictions, during which individuals can struggle to access external assistance and often need to rely heavily on the social, emotional, and financial support of other family members. Previous research indicates that family financial stress has negative consequences for the mental health and well-being of members, but that heightened family identification can provide individuals with a stronger sense of collective financial resilience. In the present study, an online longitudinal survey of U.K. residents (N = 172) shows that, in summer 2020, the positive relationship between individuals’ family identification and their well-being 1 month later was mediated by levels of perceived family financial efficacy and financial stress. These findings build upon existing evidence of the pivotal role of the family in financial well-being and suggest that supporting family units to cope with shared financial challenges may have psychological benefits over and above supporting individual family members.
NEW PHD. STUDENTSHIP
October 27, 2021
As part of Nottingham Trent University's Fully-Funded PhD Studentship Scheme 2020, a studentship entitled "Improving healthcare for trans and gender diverse people: adapting and testing the effectiveness of Social Prescribing initiatives" is available. The selected student will be supervised by Dr. Beth Jones, Dr. Mhairi Bowe, and Dr. Juliet Wakefield, who together have expertise in applying the Social Identity Approach to Social Prescribing, the health of trans and gender diverse people, applying the Social Identity Approach to Social Prescribing, and adapting Social Prescribing for vulnerable populations. The deadline for applications is January 14th 2022.
NEW PAPER: EXPLORATION OF THE EXTENT TO WHICH FAMILY IDENTIFICATION AND SUPPORT PREDICTS REDUCTIONS IN STRESS AMONG DISADVANTAGED NEIGHBOURHOOD RESIDENTS
October 13, 2021
A new paper by NTU Social Identity Group members Professor Clifford Stevenson, Dr. Juliet Wakefield, and Associate Professor Blerina Kellezi explores the extent to which family identification and support predicts reductions in stress among disadvantaged neighbourhood residents. The abstract reads: Stronger family relationships predict positive health outcomes: a relationship that is partially due to the range of emotional, practical and informational support that families can provide. Yet not all families possess these resources. A survey study in a disadvantaged community in Nottingham, UK (N = 142) demonstrated that family identification positively predicts ability to cope with financial stress, but that this relationship is moderated by whether family support is present or absent. Semi-structured interviews with 10 members of different families from the same community shed further light upon the nature of this relationship: individuals report that they tend to turn to their family rather than friends or community services in times of financial hardship, even though their family are unlikely to be able to support them effectively, and that this is often due to feelings of embarrassment or finance-related stigma. Our findings highlight the complex role that families can play in finance-related issues, as well as the need to encourage individuals to seek financial support from sources which provide effective (rather than emotionally comfortable) assistance.
TWO CONVERSATION ARTICLES RECENTLY PUBLISHED
July 15th 2021
NTU Social Identity Research Group have recently published two articles on their research in The Conversation. Associate Professor Blerina Kellezi, Dr. Juliet Wakefield, and Dr. Mhairi Bowe published "The impact of poor healthcare provision in UK immigration removal centres" and Dr. Juliet Wakefield published "COVID-19: how a sense of community can increase vaccine uptake"
NEW PAPER: FINANCIAL DISTRESS AND SUICIDAL BEHAVIOUR DURING COVID-19: FAMILY IDENTIFICATION ATTENUATES THE NEGATIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COVID-RELATED FINANCIAL DISTRESS AND MENTAL ILL-HEALTH
July 14th 2021
A new paper by NTU Social Identity group members Prof. Clifford Stevenson and Dr. Juliet Wakefield explores the relationship between family identification, COVID-19-related financial distress, mental ill-health, and suicidal ideation. The abstract reads: COVID-19 provides a ‘perfect storm’ of social and economic suicide risk-factors. Recent research has evidenced an initial impact of the pandemic upon suicide rates, but has yet to understand how elevated financial threat and social isolation may predict suicide ideation/behaviour, or which social factors promote resilience. This study addressed these shortcomings. An online longitudinal survey study (N = 370) which took place from May to September 2020 showed COVID-related financial distress predicts suicidal thoughts and behaviour via increased depression and loneliness. Family identification attenuates these relationships. Our findings reaffirm the importance of social factors in reducing mental ill-health outcomes of economic crises.
ICSIH TASTER EVENT
July 9th 2021
The 5th International Conference on Social identity and Health (ICSIH5) will take place on 23rd-24th June 2022. In the meantime, there was an online Taster Event on July 9th 2021. Please see the ICSIH website for more information
NEW PAPER: THY WILL BE DONE: EXPLORING THE LONGITUDINAL REWARDS OF RELIGIOUS GROUP MEMBERSHIP ENACTMENT DURING VOLUNTEERING
June 15th 2021
A new paper by NTU Social Identity Group members Dr. Juliet Wakefield, Dr. Mhairi Bowe, and Dr. Blerina Kellezi explores the benefits of religious identity enactment through volunteering. The abstract reads: The volunteering literature is replete with studies revealing the health benefits of volunteering. This has led psychologists to question whether social processes may help deliver these benefits while also supporting sustained volunteering engagement. The Social Identity Approach (SIA) recognizes that volunteering takes place in groups and sheds light on these processes by providing insights into group dynamics. Specifically, recent work within the Social Cure tradition has revealed the dynamic relationship between volunteering and group identification, and how this can influence health and well‐being. This study extends previous work by exploring whether the relationship is mediated by the extent to which volunteers feel able to enact their membership of a valued group (specifically their religious group) through their volunteering. People who volunteer with religiously motivated voluntary groups (N = 194) completed the same online survey twice, three months apart (T1/T2). For participants high in religiosity, T1 identification with their voluntary group positively predicted their sense of being able to enact the membership of their religious group through their voluntary work at T2, which in turn was a positive predictor of T2 mental health and volunteer engagement. The implications of these findings for both the theoretical literature and for voluntary organizations are discussed.
NEW PAPER: DOING IT FOR US: COMMUNITY IDENTIFICATION PREDICTS WILLINGNESS TO RECEIVE A COVID-19 VACCINATION VIA PERCEIVED SENSE OF DUTY TO THE COMMUNITY
May 25th, 2021
A new paper by Dr. Juliet Wakefield and her project student Amreen Khauser explores the relationship between commnity identification, prosocial group norms, and COVID-19 vaccination willingness. The abstract reads: The COVID-19 pandemic has presented huge challenges for communities across the world. Vaccines offer the best hope for controlling its deleterious effects, but not everybody is willing to be vaccinated, so it is important to explore variables that might predict vaccination willingness. The present study addressed this by drawing upon the Social Identity Approach, which posits that people's membership of social groups is consequential for their thoughts and behaviour. Specifically, it was predicted that people's strength of identification with their local community (a social group that came to particular prominence during the pandemic) would positively predict their willingness to engage in community-related prosocial normative behaviour (i.e., their perceived sense of duty, as a community member, to get vaccinated) and that this, in turn, would predict higher levels of vaccination willingness. Participants (N = 130) completed an online survey, which supported the hypothesized mediation model, even after controlling for subjective neighbourhood socio-economic status and age (two variables that are particularly likely to impact upon vaccination willingness). To our knowledge, this is the first study to apply Social Identity Approach principles to the study of COVID-19 vaccination willingness. The implications of the findings for governments' efforts to boost vaccine uptake are discussed.
NEW PAPER: COLLECTIVELY COPING WITH CORONAVIRUS: LOCAL COMMUNITY IDENTIFICATION PREDICTS GIVING SUPPORT AND LOCKDOWN ADHERENCE DURING THE COVID‐19 PANDEMIC
May 10th, 2021
A new paper by members of the NTU Social Identity Research Team in collaboration with Prof. John Drury (University of Sussex) and Dr. Sebastiano Costa (Università degli studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli), in the British Journal of Social Psychology, explores community identification, community support, help-giving. and lockdown adherence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The abstract reads: The role of shared identity in predicting both ingroup helping behaviour and adherence to protective norms during COVID‐19 has been extensively theorized, but remains largely under‐investigated. We build upon previous Social Identity research into community resilience by testing the role of pre‐existing local community (or ‘neighbourhood’) identity as a predictor of these outcomes, via the mediator of perceived social support. Community residents in the UK completed a longitudinal online survey four months before lockdown (T1; N = 253), one month before lockdown (T2; N = 217), and two months into lockdown (T3; N = 149). The cross‐lagged panel analysis shows that T1 community identification predicts T3 giving and receiving of pandemic‐related support, and that these effects occur via the perception of community support at the second time point (while the alternative pathway from T1 support via T2 identification is non‐significant). Moreover, we show that T1 community identification also directly predicts lockdown adherence at T3. Our findings point to the pivotal role played by community identity in effective behavioural responses to the pandemic, and the need to support and foster community development to facilitate local community resilience as the crisis continues to unfold.
NEW PAPER: COMMUNITY IDENTIFICATION, SOCIAL SUPPORT, AND LONELINESS: THE BENEFITS OF SOCIAL IDENTIFICATION FOR PERSONAL WELL‐BEING
May 4th, 2021
A new paper by the NTU Social Identity Research Team in the British Journal of Social Psychology explores the relationships between community identification, social support, and loneliness. The abstract reads: "Levels of loneliness across the world have reached epidemic proportions, and their impact upon population health is increasingly apparent. In response, policies and initiatives have attempted to reduce loneliness by targeting social isolation among residents of local communities. Yet, little is known about the social psychological processes underpinning the relationships between community belonging, loneliness, and well‐being. We report three studies which apply the Social Identity Approach to Health to examine the mechanisms underpinning the relationships between community identity, health, and loneliness. Hypotheses were tested through secondary analyses of the 2014–2015 UK Community Life Survey (N = 4,314) as well as bespoke household surveys in a more (N = 408) and less (N = 143) affluent community at high risk of loneliness. Studies 1 and 2a demonstrated that the relationship between community identification and well‐being was mediated by increased social support and reduced loneliness. In Study 2b, community identification predicted well‐being through reduced loneliness, but not through social support. Our results are the first to evidence these relationships and suggest that community‐level interventions that enhance community identification and peer support can promote a potential Social Cure for loneliness."
NEW PAPER: THE MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS OF COMMUNITY HELPING DURING CRISIS: COORDINATED HELPING, COMMUNITY IDENTIFICATION AND SENSE OF UNITY DURING THE COVID‐19 PANDEMIC
April 5th, 2021
A new paper by the NTU Social Identity Research Team in the Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology explores the mental health benefits of community helping during the COVID-19 pandemic. The abstract reads: Communities are vital sources of support during crisis, providing collective contexts for shared identity and solidarity that predict supportive, prosocial responses. The COVID‐19 pandemic has presented a global health crisis capable of exerting a heavy toll on the mental health of community members while inducing unwelcome levels of social disconnection. Simultaneously, lockdown restrictions have forced vulnerable community members to depend upon the support of fellow residents. Fortunately, voluntary helping can be beneficial to the well‐being of the helper as well as the recipient, offering beneficial collective solutions. Using insights from social identity approaches to volunteering and disaster responses, this study explored whether the opportunity to engage in helping fellow community members may be both unifying and beneficial for those engaging in coordinated community helping. Survey data collected in the UK during June 2020 showed that coordinated community helping predicted the psychological bonding of community members by building a sense of community identification and unity during the pandemic, which predicted increased well‐being and reduced depression and anxiety. Implications for the promotion and support of voluntary helping initiatives in the context of longer‐term responses to the COVID‐19 pandemic are provided.
NEW PAPER: HEALTHCARE PROVISION INSIDE IMMIGRATION REMOVAL CENTRES: A SOCIAL IDENTITY ANALYSIS OF TRUST, LEGITIMACY AND DISENGAGEMENT
March 23rd, 2021
A new paper by the NTU Social Identity Research Team in Applied Psychology Health and Well-being explores healthcare provision inside Immigration Removal Centres. The abstract reads: The stressors of immigration detention and negative host country experiences make effective access to health care vital for migrant detainees, but little is known regarding the health experiences of this populations and the barriers to healthcare access. The present research investigates immigration detainees’ experiences of health‐related help‐seeking in the distressing and stigmatised environment of UK immigration removal centres (IRCs), as well as staff members’ experiences of providing help. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 40 detainees and 21 staff and analysed using theoretical thematic analysis guided by the social identity approach. The findings indicate that the practical constraints on help provision (e.g. lack of time and resources, the unpredictable nature of detention) are exacerbated by the complex and conflictual intergroup relationships within which these helping transactions occur. These transactions are negatively affected by stigma, mutual distrust and reputation management concerns, as well as detainees’ feelings of powerlessness and confusion around eligibility to receive health care. Some detainees argued that the help ignores the systematic inequalities associated with their detainee status, thereby making it fundamentally inappropriate and ineffective. The intergroup context (of inequality and illegitimacy) shapes the quality of helping transactions, care experiences and health service engagement in groups experiencing chronic low status, distress and uncertainty.
NEW PAPER: FAMILY IDENTITY AS SOCIAL CURE AND CURSE DYNAMICS IN CONTEXTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
February 5th, 2021
A new paper by the NTU Social Identity Research Team in the European Journal of Social Psychology explores Social Cure and Social Curse processes within families in the context of human rights violations. The abstract reads: "Although Social Cure research shows the importance of family identification in one’s ability to cope with stress, there remains little understanding of family responses to human rights violations. This is the first study to explore the role of family identity in the collective experience of such violations: meanings ascribed to suffering, family coping strategies, and family‐based understandings of justice. Semi‐structured interviews (N=27) with Albanian dictatorship survivors were analysed using Social Identity Theory informed thematic analysis. The accounts reveal Social Cure processes at work, whereby family groups facilitated shared meaning‐making, uncertainty reduction, continuity, resilience‐building, collective self‐esteem, and support, enhanced through common fate experiences. As well as being curative, families were contexts for Social Curse processes, as relatives shared suffering and consequences collectively, whilst also experiencing intergenerational injustice and trauma. Although seeking and achieving justice remains important, the preservation of family identity is one of the triumphs in these stories of suffering."
SOCIAL PRESCRIBING RESPONSES FOR MIGRANTS
November 11, 2020
The NTU Social Identity Group has published a report in response to a call for evidence from Public Health England regarding Social Prescribing approaches for migrants. The report is based on two co-production roundtable discussions that the report's lead author Blerina Kellezi organised at NTU in December 2019. These discussions aimed to identify barriers and facilitators of health service access and satisfaction among migrants, and recommendations for using Social Prescribing with migrant populations. The discussions were part of a day-long event organised by the NTU Social identity Group and Nottingham Civic Exchange in order to explore how to adapt Social Prescribing initiatives so that they meet the needs of vulnerable groups. The report can be found here.
OUR NEW SOCIAL PRESCRIBING EVALUATION REPORT
September 28, 2020
The NTU Social Identity Research Team has evaluated Social Prescribing Reducing Isolation in Gedling (SPRIING). More details (including the report) can be found on our Research & Evaluation Reports page.
NEW PAPER: THE SOCIAL CURE OF SOCIAL PRESCRIBING
April 12, 2020
The NTU Social Identity Group has a new paper published in the Journal of Health Psychology, which explores the Social Cure processes which take place within a Social Prescribing initiative. Lead author Dr. Juliet Wakefield explains: Social Prescribing (the supplementation of regular healthcare with lifestyle-related goal setting and support to help patients engage in local community groups) has been evidenced to improve mental and physical health amongst chronically ill patients whose health conditions are exacerbated by loneliness and social anxiety. In the UK, Social Prescribing is being rolled out across the National Health Service, and is central part of the NHS’s Long-Term Plan. However, there is no clear theoretical framework underpinning the design or evaluation of Social Prescribing initiatives, which significantly hampers providers’ ability to understand why, and for whom, these initiatives work. To remedy this, our research was underpinned by the Social Cure perspective, which posits that psychologically-meaningful social groups benefit health through various psychological processes, such as the receipt of much-needed social support from fellow group members during times of stress. In this paper, we examined whether the Social Cure perspective explains the efficacy of a Nottinghamshire Social Prescribing (SP) pathway. We collected data from 630 patients at their point of entry onto the pathway (T0), then again from 178 of these patients four months later at the end of the pathway (T1), and then again from 63 of these patients six-nine months later (T2). Supporting the Social Cure perspective, before participants even began the intervention there was a positive correlation between their number of group memberships and their health-related quality of life. Additionally, participants’ health-related quality of life improved during the intervention (between T0 and T1), and this was predicted by an increase in number of group memberships. This relationship between increased number of group memberships and health-related quality of life was serially mediated by key Social Cure process variables: increased sense of community belonging, increased sense of received community support, and a decreased sense of loneliness. This study is the first to show that Social Prescribing enhances health-related quality of life via Social Cure mechanisms. It is a companion to Kellezi et al.’s 2019 BMJ Open paper, which reports on the same Nottinghamshire Social Prescribing pathway. In that paper, we show that healthcare providers recognise the importance of social factors in determining patient well-being, and consider Social Prescribing to be an effective way to address patients’ social issues, while patients on a Social Prescribing pathway report that they value the different social relationships they create through the pathway. We also report that the healthcare usage of patients on the Social Prescribing pathway negatively predicted primary care usage, and that this relationship was mediated by increases in community belonging and reduced loneliness.
NTU press release about the paper.
NEW PAPER: SOCIAL IDENTITY PROCESSES IN VOLUNTEERING
April 12, 2020
The NTU Social Identity Research Group has a new paper published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, which explores the social identity processes involved in volunteering. Summarising the paper on Twitter, lead author Dr. Mhairi Bowe explained: Our mixed method study with community volunteers in England showed community identity is both motivator for and result of volunteering in the community. Community volunteers describe their volunteering as a result of being committed to a community that has looked after them. Their subsequent volunteering builds this community commitment and sense of belonging in ways that make them want to continue volunteering. Volunteers state that helping within their community also helps them feel their community is supportive and resourceful, and able to help others, including them, should they need help in the future. Survey results show volunteers identify more with their community, feel more supported, and report higher well-being, and mediation analysis illustrate the well-known links between volunteering and well-being are mediated by increased community identification and support. Both interviews and survey suggest community volunteering is linked with better well-being showing Social Cure processes, but also reveal a behaviour that can actively *build* community identification. During the COVID-19 pandemic, volunteering has surged, but its sustainability is vital, as is volunteers' well-being throughout. Our study suggests strong and supportive community identities can both motivate this volunteering and sustain it, whilst promoting well-being.
NTU press release about the paper.
OUR EVIDENCE IN HOUSE OF LORDS SELECT COMMITTEE REPORT
April 12, 2020
Evidence from foodbank-related research conducted by Dr. Mhairi Bowe and Dr. Juliet Wakefield is featured in the House of Lord's Select Committee on Food, Poverty, Health and the Environment's report, entitled 'Hungry for Change: Fixing The Failures in Food'. The report can be accessed here.
SOCIAL PRESCRIBING TOOLKIT
April 12, 2025
Based on our research into and evaluation of Social Prescribing initiatives, we, along with our collaborators at University of Winchester and London South Bank University have devised a Social Prescribing Toolkit. This Toolkit has been developed as a resource for individuals or organisations that are involved, or who are considering becoming involved in, Social Prescribing. For more details, please click here.
NEW PAPER: FAMILY IDENTIFICATION AND FINANCIAL RESILIENCE
April 12, 2020
Members of our research group have just published a new paper: Family Identification Facilitates Coping with Financial Stress: A Social Identity Approach to Family Financial Resilience. You can find out more about it on our Publications page. NTU press release about the paper.
ICSIH5 POSTPONED
April 12, 2020
Due to COVID-19, we have postponed the 5th International Conference on Social Identity and Health. More details are available via the conference website.