Sauna · Wellbeing · Social Prescribing
Rachael McGrath
I research why community saunas make people feel better, and help organisations, brands and sauna bathers understand what the evidence actually says.
Sauna · Wellbeing · Social Prescribing
I research why community saunas make people feel better, and help organisations, brands and sauna bathers understand what the evidence actually says.
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The London Interdisciplinary School (LIS) is a London-based university teaching across disciplines and methods to connect the dots and tackle the world's most complex problems. I graduated with First Class Honours and the William Morris Award for outstanding academic achievement. I remain a Research Affiliate there, continuing my sauna and social prescribing research.
I'm a Research Affiliate at the London Interdisciplinary School, where I completed a BASc in Interdisciplinary Problems and Methods. I specialise in mixed-methods research, aimed at solving real-world problems. Sauna, as a complex intervention, is a natural fit.
I also work as a startup consultant across health tech and early-stage ventures, which keeps my research grounded in how organisations actually operate.
My work sits at the intersection of sauna culture, wellbeing, and social prescribing. Social prescribing is the practice of connecting people to community activities as a route to better wellbeing. My research on sauna and social connection is published in Social Science & Medicine, and I led the first UK evaluation of a sauna social prescribing programme with Community Sauna Baths.
I also lead the Sauna Bathing Research Collective, an international group of sauna researchers and practitioners. I write and speak publicly to translate that research for people outside academia: sauna operators, journalists, event organisers, and anyone curious about what the evidence actually shows.
Currently focused on building the UK evidence base for community saunas as a preventative health intervention.
Newson et al., 2026 · Social Science & Medicine
New collaborative research from the University of Greenwich and the London Interdisciplinary School, with support from the British Sauna Society. It draws on 1,907 participants from the UK Aufguss Championships and Community Sauna Baths' London sites. The study finds that shared sauna rituals significantly boost wellbeing by enhancing social connectedness, belonging, and emotional synchrony.
“All round, the research presents compelling evidence for UK sauna culture to continue developing in a way that is both communal and heavily ritualised, with these elements being core to its purpose as a practice and not just an optional add-on or variation. Sauna bathing that reduces it down to individual optimisation, or only explained by a contrast of extreme temperatures, ignores the full array of benefits that are available.”
Gabrielle Reason, Director at the British Sauna Society
Read the paper → See how Community Sauna Baths writes about it →
Dissertation, June 2025 · London Interdisciplinary School
Mixed-methods research employing qualitative methods of participatory action research (body mapping) and data science (statistical analysis) with Community Sauna Baths across six London sauna sites (n ≈ 1,800).
Community Sauna Baths, June 2026 · Lead Researcher
I designed and led the first UK evaluation of a sauna social prescribing and community outreach programme, using MYCaW® (Measure Yourself Concerns and Wellbeing), a patient-generated tool that captures both personal concerns and wellbeing scores.
This evaluation aims to understand what works, for whom, and in what contexts. As grey literature, it helps show who is being referred and why, what concerns and symptoms they present with, and how those change over the course of a 10-session sauna prescription.
Early results: concern severity down 2.9 points; wellbeing up 2.6 points. Strongest gains came from completing the full 10-session programme, not a single sauna session.
Full write-up in progress. Get in touch if you'd like early findings or want to discuss a similar evaluation for your organisation.
Community Sauna Baths is London's largest community sauna network, and the site of my social prescribing evaluation.
The British Sauna Society, pictured here at their Sauna Summit, where I spoke on a panel about saunas' role in mental health.
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I work with sauna operators, researchers, wellness brands, and event organisers across:
If any of that fits what you're building, I'd like to hear from you.
Speaking, media, research collaboration, or just want to say hello. Send a message.