What if your next prescription wasn’t a pill… but a park?
In the UK, doctors are actively prescribing doses of nature for mental health; forest walks, community gardening, conservation volunteering. It’s called the Green Prescription Program.
So far, through pilot programs, thousands of participants have reported improvements in:
anxiety,
depression,
mood,
overall wellbeing...
…with no clear side effects (unless you count muddy socks, or leaves strewn about in your car; those can be annoying).
The stats
Here’s some data from their findings so far. Note these are measured on a scale of 1 to 10 with clinically tested instruments.
Depression symptoms reduced: 8.1 → 5.6
Life satisfaction increased: 4.7 → 6.8
Happiness jumped from 5.3 → 7.5
These findings were based on over 8,500 referrals from doctors. Reports so far have captured some important findings; for example, that while daily doses of nature carried the best outcomes, even weekly made a difference. In short, you can get small snippets of nature and still gain some psychological and physical benefits.
Meanwhile, in Australia...
Our own Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is calling for a similar system: a national, whole-of-government approach to referring patients back to nature.
Because while the research is clear, the referral pathways… are still patchy.
Imagine if every GP could offer you an activity that brings you to a gardening group, a weekly hike, or outdoor fitness or meditation instead of screen-based.
Let’s take a moment
If your body were writing you a prescription right now… what would it ask for?
Want more?
Listen to The Great Green Escape, Episode 1, where we explore our ‘Tree-N-A‘.