Reading Well Books on Prescription

Reading Well Books on Prescription help you to understand and manage your health and wellbeing using self-help reading. It is endorsed by health professionals and supported by Northamptonshire libraries.

Books can be recommended by GPs or other health professionals from the relevant Reading Well Books on the Prescription reading list and can be borrowed for free from your local library. If the title is not available in your local library you can request it from another Northamptonshire Library for free.

Books available under this scheme

There are 4 sets of books available:

• books covering common mental health conditions - including anxiety, depression, phobias and some eating disorders
• books for dementia - these are divided into 4 categories: information and advice, living well with dementia, support for relatives and carers and personal stories
• books for children - these titles support the mental health and wellbeing of children aged 7-11 years old, providing children and their families and carers with information, advice and support for coping with feelings and worries, daily life and getting through a tough time
• books for young people - these titles provide 13 to 18-year-olds with support and advice on common mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and stress

Prescribing a book for your patients

It’s really simple to 'prescribe' a book for your patients.

Download one of the following leaflets from the books on the prescription website to give to your patient:

• Interactive prescriber leaflet - Reading Well for mental health
• Interactive prescriber leaflet - Reading Well Books on Prescription for dementia
• Interactive prescriber leaflet - Reading Well for young people

On the leaflet, you can tick the book you want to prescribe.

Getting a book which has been prescribed

To borrow a prescribed book, visit your local library with the user leaflet that your health professional gave you and borrow the recommended book.

If you’re not a library member, ask a member of staff to join you to the library. This is free and you don’t need any identification documents.

If the book you need is not available in your local library you can request it to be delivered from another library for free. Just speak to a member of staff to arrange this.

Your book may also be available as an eBook. You will need to be a library member to borrow an eBook. To browse the collection, and download a title, visit our eBooks webpage.

Last updated 18 April 2024