On 26 January, The Reading Agency and the Society of Chief Librarians launched the latest Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme, to support people with dementia and their carers. The new scheme builds on the existing Reading Well Books on Prescription programme, which already helps over 275,000 people with common mental health conditions feel better through self-help reading.
The 25 titles on the booklist, available in libraries across England from February, have been recommended by health experts and people with lived experience of dementia. The books can be recommended by health professionals or people can self-refer and borrow titles for free from their local library.
The booklist is available and also (along with other recommended titles) on the “Reading Well” webpages.
The scheme has also been launched locally, for example at the Alzheimer’s Society’s monthly Memory Lane Dementia Café at Middlesbrough Central Library; as part of the launch of the Southend Dementia Action Alliance.