The restorative power of a brief dosage of nature is prescribed

 By Donna Lu

February 11, 2023

I moved to London for a few years in my mid-20s, fulfilling an uniquely Australian rite of passage. After spending months in my first English winter, I began to fantasise of the Australian outback.

I made notes of the visuals since they were so distinct and clear. I would frequently dream that I was overlooking the water from a high vantage point along the south-east Queensland coast, something I had never given much thought to before. I observed that there was "all manner of ocean life": dolphins leaping in the shallows and a mother and calf whale out in the open ocean.

I still haven't seen a platypus in the wild, but in another dream, I wrote, "Got pretty psyched about witnessing my first wild platypus."

Although I had never thought of myself as particularly outdoorsy, the occasional urban gloom of London had made me long for the natural surroundings of my early years. I had a fresh appreciation for the humpback whale mist on the horizon, the fine sand that attaches to everything, and the gentle evening chirp of cicadas when I got home.

I'm not alone in wanting to spend more time in nature when there is limited access to it, as the pandemic has shown. Spending time in green places has been shown to have restorative effects, which may be crucial for our health and wellbeing.

Prof. Thomas Astell-Burt, a population health specialist at the University of Wollongong, tells me that research "shows that over time we've become more detached as humans from nature." For instance, a 2017 study discovered that since the 1950s, the number of references to nature in popular culture—in novels, song lyrics, and movie plots—has decreased. According to Astell-Burt, "it may indicate that society as a whole has turned much more inwardly oriented on our metropolitan consumerist lifestyles."

According to him, studies dating back to the 1990s have revealed that taking a stroll in a natural setting as opposed to an urban one improves people's focus, emotions of wellness, and even their blood pressure.

According to studies, spending time in nature has a substantial good impact on both our physical and mental health. It has been repeatedly shown that residing near green or blue spaces—in rural or coastal settings—reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease as well as the signs and symptoms of anxiety and sadness. Additionally, having access to green space has been associated with a lower risk of loneliness. Some even contend that interacting with environmental microbes may strengthen our immune systems.

The increase of nature-based prescription programmes, often known as "green prescriptions" or "blue prescriptions," has been attributed to the connection between spending time in nature and wellbeing internationally. The UK government stated in 2020 that it would invest £4 million in a two-year green prescription pilot programme in four locations that had been severely affected by COVID. In many Canadian provinces, doctors have been authorised to prescribe their patients time in nature since the beginning of 2022, including a permit that grants entrance to the nation's national parks. Since 1982, shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, a practise that involves connecting with nature via the senses, has been advised by health professionals in Japan.

Despite an increasing corpus of research pointing to possible advantages and local interest, nature prescription is still uncommon in Australia. A threshold of at least 30% green space or tree canopy in metropolitan areas is connected with health benefits, including a decreased risk of diabetes and psychological discomfort, according to studies involving close to 47,000 Australians.

According to Prof. Xiaoqi Feng from the University of New South Wales department of population health, "We truly have enough local evidence to suggest that's how much we need for Australia." We take into account competing socioeconomic factors like money and education in all of our research publications, yet we still find proof that green space is good for both physical and mental health.

Following an eight-week pilot done by Green Adelaide in 2021, those who finished the programme reported increased general wellness and a sense of connection to nature. However, there were only six participants in the trial.

In a national survey Astell-Burt and Feng conducted during the pandemic, it was discovered that even among Australian adults who spent the least amount of time—less than two hours a week—in nature, appetite was still high (76%), and that 82% of them would be interested in receiving a prescription for nature.

According to Astell-Burt, "There is no national, or even state-level, nature prescription programme that health practitioners might recommend for these patients, or any sort of uniform criteria that health professionals could adhere to in Australia."

We must do high-quality randomised trials that demonstrate unequivocally what categories of natural remedies are effective when, where, and for whom. We cannot rely on a universally applicable solution.

Astell-Burt contends that the advantages of being beside lakes, rivers, and oceans would be similar, despite the fact that research into the positive effects of blue spaces is still in its early stages.

Some of the patients of Wollongong general practitioner Dr. Rowena Ivers have been encouraged to spend time outdoors. "The majority of it today is talking to people," We "may write it into a chronic disease care plan with persons with chronic conditions."

Some of the suggestions could be combined with physical activity, like bushwalking or parkrun participation, or with community service, such working in a community garden or on bush regeneration initiatives. Depending on what the person appreciates, there are a variety of methods that it can be done, according to Ivers.

"GPs are becoming more cognizant of social prescribing, but we also know that outdoor activities have additional advantages."

According to experts, engaging in outdoor activities may not present the same barriers to adoption as exercise, which people may hate or avoid despite being aware of its advantages. The benefit of a natural remedy is not needing to muster the willpower to, say, run a marathon in the park, according to Feng. There, you could unwind, listen to birds singing, hang out with friends, or even just create a tiny urban garden on your balcony.

Feng thinks that natural prescriptions might be incorporated into the healthcare system as part of standard care, despite the fact that "it's not a silver bullet." "It probably costs nothing to the individual and the health system and could have many benefits for people's mental, social, and physical health."