97% of young people would recommend their Reading Well book to a friend
Reading Well supports you to understand and manage your health and wellbeing using helpful reading.
Reading Well books are all recommended by health experts, as well as people with lived experience of the conditions and topics covered and their relatives and carers.
You can be recommended a title by a health professional, or you can visit your local library and take a book out yourself.
“I’ve become very involved in the world of dementia awareness after caring for my late mother who had the disease. I’m delighted The Reading Agency has developed this book collection to encourage people to read about dementia. When my mother developed dementia 20 years ago, I knew very little about it. I needed a great deal of help to learn how to cope and to help my mother live well with the disease. I believe Reading Well for dementia will be a step forward. The books are going to be the catalyst that will bring people together, inform them and educate them to become much more aware and most importantly, less frightened of what a future with dementia holds.”
Angela Rippon CBE, journalist and broadcaster and Reading Well for dementia champion
You can borrow books from the collections from your local library. Many of the Reading Well titles are also available to borrow as e-books and audiobooks. Reading Well is a shared programme with Libraries Connected as part of the Universal Public Library Health and Wellbeing Offer.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has funded a universal roll-out of the reading lists to support mental health to every library service across England. Welsh Government have funded every library authority in Wales to deliver the scheme bilingually in Welsh and English.
Reading Well is delivered by The Reading Agency in partnership with Libraries Connected as a core delivery partner for their Universal Public Library Health and Wellbeing Offer.
It is funded by Arts Council England, The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and Welsh Government.
Reading Well is evaluated each year to ensure that it delivers positive outcomes.
Over 3.8 million Reading Well books have been borrowed from libraries and 92% of people surveyed found their book helpful.
97% of young people would recommend their Reading Well book to a friend
90% of health professionals surveyed said Reading Well books helped support people outside of consultation time
Reading Well is part of the Universal Public Library Health and Wellbeing Offer. Download our delivery model for a guide to running Reading Well in your library.
You can also download specialist guides for other settings interested in getting involved with Reading Well: Schools, Parents and carers, Link workers and the health sector.
Other print materials supporting Reading Well, including user leaflets and posters, can be ordered from our online shop.
For more information, please get in touch.
We have lots of free downloadable resources to support you with promoting and embedding Reading Well.
As part of a webinar on 19 November 2024, delivered in partnership with RCGP titled ‘Books on Prescription – how reading can support better patient…
A pdf of GP top tips for using Reading Well and a digital flyer with information on Reading Well for health professionals
A toolkit to support libraries to engage with National Self-Care Week 2024 (18 - 24 November). The toolkit includes useful information, resources, display and activity…
Digital assets for all available Reading Well schemes, including social media graphics, web banners and animated gifs.
Living with dementia or caring for someone with dementia can be challenging. In this blog post, we’ll explore the benefits that reading can bring to people affected by dementia.
Half of all adults in the UK don’t read regularly, and 1 in 6 – that’s 8.5 million – struggles…
Reading Well for dementia recommends helpful reading for people affected by dementia. Maxine, a member of the co-production group, shares…
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