Professor Michelle Howarth is a distinguished Professor of Health and Social Care at Edge Hill University and a national leader in green and nature-based social prescribing. A qualified nurse, she has built an influential career at the intersection of healthcare, community engagement, and environmental wellbeing. Her work centres on green social prescribing, a person-centred approach that harnesses nature's therapeutic effects to enhance physical, mental, and emotional health.

Guided by salutogenic principles, Michelle focuses on interventions that build resilience, support coping capacity, and promote long-term wellbeing. Her research benefits diverse groups, including older adults, individuals living with long-term conditions, and young people facing emotional or social challenges. Through evidence-based nursing, community-led frameworks, and innovative nature-based therapies, she has advanced sustainable, personalised care pathways that strengthen both individual wellbeing and social connectedness.

Michelle plays a pivotal role in shaping the national social prescribing landscape. She chairs the PerCIE (Personalised Care Interprofessional Education) Network, bringing together educators, practitioners, and researchers to embed personalised and nature-based care within health and social care curricula. Her leadership in these networks has influenced the professionalisation of link workers, the standardisation of outcomes, and the development of practice-based placements that prepare future practitioners for integrated, person-focused care.

Her research contributions are extensive. Through programmes such as Green & Growing, she has demonstrated how therapeutic horticulture reduces social isolation, improves mental health, and strengthens community cohesion, particularly for older adults. Her work with Barnardo's CYP LINK programme evaluates social prescribing for children and young people, providing vital evidence for community and nature-based interventions that support emotional resilience and developmental wellbeing. These research outputs have shaped policy, informed practice guidance, and contributed to the national scaling of green social prescribing.

Nationally and internationally, she contributes to advisory boards including the National Social Prescribing Network and Social Farms & Gardens, and her publications continue to strengthen the evidence base for nature-based and integrated care models. Michelle's work demonstrates how combining compassionate practice, environmental engagement, and rigorous research can transform health and social care, fostering healthier, more resilient communities.

I've worked with Michelle for many years through the Social Prescribing Network, and her dedication to person-centred practice is truly inspiring. She brings passion to her work in higher education, helping students appreciate the importance of understanding what matters to each person and encouraging them to form meaningful, lasting relationships with the communities they serve. She was conferred the title of Professor in 2025 and delivered her inaugural professorial lecture in May this year. (Here is the link to the recording should you like to view it Professor Michelle Howarth inaugural lecture: Time for a Natural Health Service? - YouTube)

I hope you enjoy reading Michelle's guest blog.

Many thanks,
Siân 

Reimagining Health? What could the 10-Year Health Plan Mean For Communities? 

The UK Government's recently launched 10-Year Health Plan, 'Fit for the Future', marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of health and care. With its bold ambition to shift the NHS from a reactive, hospital-centric model to one rooted in community, prevention, and digital innovation, the plan opens exciting possibilities for those using strengths based, person centred approaches. The plan represents a 3-fold move in a direction forces us to re-focus our 'clinical gaze' from sickness to prevention, and from the hospital context to the community. This reframing presents real opportunities to expand and build on the strengths-based philosophy to ensure that community assets are mobilised around people, places and relationships. Forging an approach to care that also reinforces the value of social prescribing as a central pillar in helping reduce inequalities and social disparities. Hence, this paradigm shift presents an exciting opportunity to build existing partnership's as part of the neighbourhood health centres and offer truly holistic and person-centred approaches that focus on what matters to people and communities.

Inevitably, these approaches require a sustained investment in the VCSFE sector to support the strategies ambitions and take the 'Margins to the Mainstream'. Placing such populations at the heart of service redesign means that communities do not become passive recipients of care but active agents in creating health. The plan's emphasis on neighbourhood health services and community-based care offers a real opportunity to embed strengths-based approaches into mainstream health strategy. 

So what's next? 

NASP has rightly called for long-term funding for community groups and assets. Without this, the plan's ambitions risk being undermined. In addition, we need to ensure that neighbourhood health services are truly co-designed and so that communities and systems are empowered to play a leading role in creating local wellbeing hubs that reflect the communities needs. For this to happen we need to be able to step forward, shape the future, and ensure that community voices are not just heard are supported in leading the way.  

So what can we do to help?

The new Neighbourhood Health Service is built on a person-centred foundation, one that focuses on what matters to people, not just what's "wrong" with them. It's a shift from a deficit-based model to a strengths-based approach, recognising people's assets, capabilities, and potential. This way of working calls for a future workforce that understands and applies salutogenic principles and those that promote health and wellbeing rather than just treating illness. Education of our future health and care workforce plays a vital role in preparing practitioners to think differently, act collaboratively, and support preventative, person-led care.

Since its launch in March 2021, the SPN has supported the Personalised Inter-professional Education (PerCIE) network, helping it grow into a thriving network. PerCIE offers a brilliant space for professionals to connect, share insights, and explore effective educational models. Whether through workshops, discussions, or informal networking, PerCIE encourages meaningful conversations around best practice, innovation, and real-world impact. It's a collaborative space where educators and practitioners can learn from each other and strengthen their approach to teaching and learning ultimately highlighting the significance of person centred approaches across a range of sector –ultimately, contributing to future workforce developments that will meet the needs of the Neighbourhood Health Service.

For more information about PerCIE visit the website.

Get involved... 

About Michelle:

Part of the world I live: Rawtenstall, Lancashire

Occupation: Qualified Nurse and Professor in Health and Social Care

What makes You well? Being in nature –

Why is social prescribing important? It offers a vital space for meaningful wellbeing conversations, helping us understand what truly matters to people so that care remains genuinely person-centred.

Your favourite nature based space? Gaddings Dam in Todmorden

Your favourite music? Chilled folk

Your favourite pastime? Outdoor/wild swimming

If you had one wish for social prescribing what would it be? To be fully integrated into a neighbourhood health service as an embedded approach

Which one person has most influenced you and why? My son.... being a parent has taught me selflessness, the importance of patience and unconditional love.