We’ve prescribed anti-hypertensives. We’ve prescribed diabetic medications. But have you ever prescribed nature?
Nature has been recognised by the World Health Organization as our greatest source of health and well-being, and spending time in nature has long been linked to improved health outcomes.
Health effects of nature
A multitude of studies had been carried out to assess the impact of nature on human health, and numerous benefits had been discovered:
Psychological benefits: lower concentrations of cortisol, lower mental distress, decreased anxiety, rumination, depressive mood, and preservation of positive affect, better wellbeing
Cardiovascular benefits: lower pulse rate, lower blood pressure, decreased cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality
Immunological benefits: higher mean values of natural killer cells and activity, increased levels of intracellular anti-cancer proteins
Oncological benefits: associated with lower cancer risk and mortality, for example prostate cancer and breast cancer
Surgical benefits: reduced recovery time following surgery
Cognitive benefits: increased working memory, reduced attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptomatology in children
Most importantly, people are just found to be significantly and substantially happier outdoors in all-green or natural habitat than they are in an urban environment. And according to traditional Chinese wisdom, happiness is the best medicine!
Okay, but what's the dosage?
Research in Finland found 15 minutes of walking in a city park is enough to improve energy and vitality. The actual optimal dosage has not been established. 5 hours a month in nature is regarded as the minimum dose in Finland, while 2 hours a week and over 20 minutes at a time has been recommended in Canada.
How is it being done?
The benefits of nature have been recognised by health organizations and governments worldwide. Countries actively promoting nature prescription include Canada, Japan, US, New Zealand and Finland, to name a few.
The actual prescription involves:
Patient education on the health benefits of spending time in nature
Provision of information on access to nature, activity guides
Recommendation on duration of nature exposure. This is an example from Penn Center for Public Health Initiatives
Free pass to national parks and conservation areas
For nature prescription to work, it also requires participation from the government:
Promoting nature as a health programme
Protection of green space
Improving infrastructure and access to green space
Researchers in Canada found that adding just 10 more trees to a city block improved perceived health and wellbeing as much as increasing people's income by CAD$10000 or making them seven years younger.
If you want to see what a successful programme looks like, click here to see how a pilot programme had come together for the general practitioners and citizens in Edinburgh.
Perhaps next time when you encounter a patient in need, you can prescribe nature. Recommend spending time in parks or going on easy hikes.
Breathe in the fresh air, feel the sunshine and heal.
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