Get outside: national nature prescription program launches in the Maritimes

From walking on a trail to digging in a garden, swimming in a lake, or simply sitting on a park bench, evidence shows connecting with nature increases energy, creativity and concentration, and reduces stress, anxiety, and chronic pain.

So stop and smell the roses, because the next time you visit your healthcare provider you just might get a prescription for nature.

On Friday, national nature prescription programPaRx(Parks Prescriptions) officially launched in the Maritimes. That means health professionals in all three provinces can now formally prescribe nature to their patients.

PaRx is Canada’s first national, evidence-based nature prescription program. An initiative of the BC Parks Foundation, Parks Prescription began more than 10 years ago as a grassroots movement in the United States.

来自医生，药剂师和物理治疗师的超过5,000名卫生加拿大卫生专业人士在护士和社会工作者身上都是处方。

With the Maritime launch of the program, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and P.E.I. join British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario as provinces where health professionals can formally prescribe nature to their patients.

“I talk about the importance of nature as a health behaviour with at least 80% of my clients,” Dalhousie University professor and practicing registered clinical psychologist Dr. Shannon Johnson said in an interview Thursday.

Johnson’s research is dedicated to understanding the mental and cognitive benefits of spending time in ⁠— and connecting with ⁠⁠— nature. She urges people to make it a regular part of their routine rather than turning to it only in times of stress or to escape something difficult. She offers在线列表在任何季节与大自然联系的想法。

“并非每个人都面临同样的障碍，因此重要的是要认识到，帮助人们在大自然中花时间不是一定规范的方法。约翰逊说，那些规定的自然时间需要与客户和患者合作，使自然纳入其生活的可行计划。“

“妨碍了什么，有助于减少其中一些障碍？规定国家公园通行证可能是适合某些人的适合，而提供有关如何与社区花园涉及的信息可能是最适合他人的。“

While most people think about sleep, nutrition, and exercise as key health behaviours, Johnson said few recognize connecting with nature is just as critical.

“当你看看广泛的福利时，他们就像一些其他一些健康支柱一样好，”如果不是更好的话，“约翰逊说。

“I think that’s where we’re really heading with this. It’s why we want it into the hands of our medical professionals, to say, look, this is something that is helpful and is necessary.”

‘All about the connection’

Johnson said in addition to the more widely known benefits, there are many physiological changes that occur when people connect with nature. While the mechanisms aren’t fully understood, it can increase immune function and decrease cortisol levels.

She was initially attracted to prescribing nature because of research around ADHD and how connecting with nature can help improve attention.

“The idea is that … our focused attention is a limited resource and we use it all the time, with anything we engage with,” she said.

“The theory is that when we go out in nature, it doesn’t rely on that kind of attention so it gives that attention an opportunity to restore and rest … You come back and you’re more rested.”

Connecting with nature can be as simple as sitting outside with your morning coffee listening to the birds, or going outside on your lunch break for fresh air or to look at nearby trees. Johnson said it’s much more than a recreational activity. It’s ultimately all about the connection.

“You can be in nature and not notice it. You can see people walking in Point Pleasant Park on their phones, so it’s as much about being present and noticing it,” she said.

“There’s tons of nature in our cities, and if you’re open to noticing it and appreciating it and connecting with it, you can get your dose of nature from walking around downtown. The harbour’s there, there are trees, there are ways to connect with nature almost anywhere you are.”

‘Something for everyone’

A key coordinator for PaRx’s Maritime launch, Johnson said there’s strong evidence that having a prescription rather than simply oral advice is a much stronger motivator for people.

“这也将提高重要性的认识spending time in nature, and hopefully connect more people at a time when we really need the benefits that it has to offer,” Johnson said.

“We’re in provinces where we actually have pretty easy access to nature. There’s so much of it, and there’s something for everyone out there.”

发射被故意计划与地球日相互作用。约翰逊表示，随着性质的联系是为了人类健康，这对行星健康也至关重要。她说有明确的证据表明，当人们与自然有联系时，他们更有可能从事亲环境行为。

“你越断绝了，你关心这些东西的关心，因为你只是不明白这一切的互连，”她说。

“Increasing connection increases our environmental behaviour and is going to help us retain our own health in the long run, on a bigger scale.”

Just two hours per week

Dalhousie University medical student Emma McDermott and New Brunswick-based medical student Jacquie Mincer have been working with health professionals in the Maritimes for the last year to ensure the launch of PaRx.

“As a third year medical student and a future health care provider, I think we should be doing everything that we can to help improve the health of our patients as a whole,” McDermott said in an interview.

“Spending time in nature is free … it’s something everyone can try and find something that works for them, and it just adds that little thing into their routine that can improve their health long term and help prevent things from happening later and then being reactive.”

只需20分钟的每周只需两小时，人们将获得与自然连接的好处。根据Parx网站，每周至少花费两个小时的人报告“明显更好的健康和福祉”。

McDermott said in addition, the most “efficient drops” in cortisol levels tend to occur in 20-minute intervals.

McDermott points to the pandemic as a prime example of people benefitting from nature to improve their mental health. During the early lockdowns when people were instructed to stay close to home, many took to walking their neighbourhoods or visiting local parks and trails.

“I think everyone who did that during the pandemic can say that they were doing it for their mental health, getting out for their time outside is what they could do to save themselves from being locked inside,” McDermott said.

“They saw the benefits that they got from being outside and were regularly fitting it into their routine. So as we’re going back to the hustle and bustle of every day with less restrictions, I hope people continue to do that in their routines moving forward and that we learn from that.”

McDermott believes one of the key benefits of the program is that the definition of “time in nature” is patient dependent.

“他们在做什么并不重要。他们可以坐在公园替补席上，他们可以观察，锻炼，与朋友聊天，听音乐，在外面吃东西，“麦克德莫特说。

“It’s one of the things that makes this program so accessible, because those with mobility concerns or lack of access…they can fit it into their routine of what works for them as long as they feel that they are having a meaningful connection with nature.”

有兴趣参与Parx的卫生专业人士可以通过该计划的网站注册。他们将收到处方垫，独特的前方票证和资源，以帮助他们在个人患者计划上工作。

McDerMott表示，法语Parx计划和随附的资源也在作品中，并将在不久的将来推出。

The 15 Maritime organizations endorsing PaRx include the Nova Scotia College of Family Physicians, the Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia, the Association of Psychologists of Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia chapter of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Medicine, and the Kingston/Greenwood Community Health Board.

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