Wellbeing Collection

We have a variety of books covering a number of topics. The range contains books on understanding dementia, help with caring for loved ones, books on coping with cancer, or many other diseases and long-term conditions. Books can be memoirs or sharing experiences, self-help, authoritative advice, or just a really good, uplifting story.

A full list of all the books is on the library catalogue.

We also have Books Beyond Words, books that support people who find pictures easier to understand than words. The Books Beyond Words booklist is on the library catalogue. More about Beyond Words can be found on the Beyond Words website. 

Be reassured, we provide quality information!

The core of the collection is made up from the Reading Agency’s Reading Well lists:

• Books on Prescription, including Reading Well for mental health, Reading Well for dementia, and Reading Well for long term conditions.
• Mood Boosting Books – we have used the 2016 and the 2018 lists of books chosen and voted for by reading groups across the country. A full list of the Mood Boosting Books within the collection is on the library catalogue.
• MacMillan Cancer Support core books list. The Knowledge and Library Services hold a selection of cancer support books which can be viewed on the library catalogue. Further cancer information and support can be found on the MacMillan website.
  
  

Titles on all these lists are books which have been selected by health professionals, people living with the conditions, and their relatives and carers. 

However, we also like to hear from you!
Through your recommendations the collection has grown to include books on topics such as resilience, stress or health conditions which are not covered in the lists. We like to know what has helped you, so please let us know if you have any recommendations to add to the collection whether that be a single book or a topic area you feel is missing.
Knowledge and Library Services staff have also identified topics for inclusion and expanded the collection.

Yes, books within the Wellbeing collection can be viewed by topic via our curated booklists. Topic specific booklists allow you to easily browse the Wellbeing collection based on your needs, currently we have the following booklists: 

• Wellbeing books collection - all titles in the Wellbeing collection
• Wellbeing collection - Books for carers
• Wellbeing collection - Books for stress, resilience and emotional intelligence
• Wellbeing collection - Grief and bereavement
• Wellbeing collection - Loneliness, anxiety and stress
• Wellbeing collection - MacMillan cancer books
• Wellbeing collection - Menopause 
• Wellbeing collection - Mental health books
• Wellbeing collection - Mental Health First Aid self-help books 
• Wellbeing collection - Sleep
• Wellbeing collection - Physical activity and the outdoors
• Wellbeing collection - Work life balance 
• Wellbeing collection - Fiction and poetry - a selection of fiction and poetry titles held in the Wellbeing collection.
• Wellbeing collection - Narrative nonfiction - a selection of nonfiction titles (such as memoirs) held in the Wellbeing collection, as well as general interest nonfiction titles from the main library collection.
  
• Wellbeing collection - Work/Life balance
• Books Beyond Words - Books Beyond Words are books that support people who find pictures easier to understand than words. More about Beyond Words can be found on the Beyond Words website.  

Any member of UKHSA staff can visit a site library and borrow a book using the self-issue kiosks. Staff based on a site without a site library, or working remotely, can email libraries@ukhsa.gov.uk and have books posted to them whether they are currently based. 

We also have a selection of eBooks and audiobooks in the collection, predominantly via the BorrowBox app and website. Find out more on the BorrowBox page. 

The Wellbeing collection contains a selection of titles on mental health and wellbeing topics. A list of all our current mental health titles is available on our mental health booklist. This includes, self-help books (including CBT techniques), memoirs and books on mindfulness and sleep.

Yes, the Wellbeing collection contains eBooks and audiobooks based upon your requests. 
Predominantly these are on BorrowBox. Find out more about BorrowBox on the BorrowBox page or you can browse eBooks and audiobooks available to you on the UKHSA BorrowBox library.

If you you would like to learn more about our eBooks, visit the eBooks page. 

The Reading Agency has compiled a list of Books on Prescription resources for Young People’s Mental Health. There is also additional books listed in the Healthy Ireland book collection (PDF), which cover topics for parenting, children and young adults. The Knowledge and Library Services’ do not hold a majority of these titles, however, they can be found in your local public library. You can find your nearest local public library on the GOV.UK Local library services page.

If looking for information on COVID-19, Guidance for parents and carers on supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is available online. 

Bibliotherapy has been described as the provision of “…information, guidance and solace… through reading,” (McNicol & Brewster, 2018, p.xiii). It "...is a form of therapeutic interaction with either fiction and poetry (imaginative literature) or self-help informational texts,” (Brewster, Sen & Cox, 2012, p.185). 

There are two main types of bibliotherapy, there is creative bibliotherapy which is “the use of fiction, poetry, biographical writing and creative writing to improve health and wellbeing.” (Brewster, 2009, p.13). Creative bibliotherapy, encompasses reading groups and “the social discussion of texts”.  And there is self-help bibliotherapy which has been defined as “the prescription of non-fiction, advisory books about metal health or physical conditions;” however, it can also be a users own “quest for self-education and understanding” on these topics.

There a large body of evidence around bibliotherapy, especially self-help bibliotherapy (an example is its use for depression) – from both medical and psychology research but also library and information research.

The wellbeing collection at UKHSA is predominantly self-help bibliotherapy.

For our 2020 Virtual Book Festival two members of the Knowledge and Library Services team discussed how reading has helped their mental health and their experiences of reading  during COVID-19. Also explored is the evidence on how reading and bibliotherapy can improve your health and wellbeing. Read the PDF: Reading and mental health. 

References 

Brewster, L., Sen, B., & Cox, A. (2012). Legitimising bibliotherapy: evidence‐based discourses in healthcare. Journal of Documentation, 68(2), 185-205. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220411211209186

Brewster, L. (2009). Reader development and mental wellbeing: The accidental bibliotherapist. Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services, 22(1), 13-16.

McNicol, S., & Brewster, L. (Eds.). (2018). Bibliotherapy. London: Facet Publishing.