Just what the doctor ordered
Getting outside is good for you. This is not news. Indeed, it should be common knowledge. But in case there was ever any doubt, the restorative powers of a good wild wander are now receiving professional recognition. Doctors on the Shetland Islands are to start prescribing hillwalking (along with beach walks and bird watching) to help treat patients as part of the ‘Nature Prescriptions’ project.
“The project provides a structured way for patients to access nature as part of a non-drug approach to health problems,” explains Dr Chloe Evans, a GP at Scalloway Health Centre on Shetland. “The benefits to patients are that it is free, easily accessible, and allows increased connection with surroundings which hopefully leads to improved physical and mental health.”
NHS Shetland is the first health board to have adopted the nature prescriptions, which will be used both alongside and to supplement conventional treatments. However, it is hoped that other health boards across the UK will adopt the new approach.
Makena Lohr is a spokeswoman for the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare in Oxford. “The physical and mental benefits of connecting with nature have been very well evidenced by numerous studies,” she says. “It’s high time that the healthcare sector became aware of that.”
So there you have it. It’s official – getting outside can make you feel better. Next issue we’ll break the story of the Pope’s religion and what bears do in the woods…