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de Bell, S., Alejandre, J.C. orcid.org/0000-0001-5972-9080, Menzel, C. orcid.org/0000-0003-1156-5392 et al. (28 more authors) (2024) Nature-based social prescribing programmes: opportunities, challenges, and facilitators for implementation. Environment International, 190. 108801. ISSN 0160-4120
Abstract
Background Evidence on the health benefits of spending time in nature has highlighted the importance of provision of blue and green spaces where people live. The potential for health benefits offered by nature exposure, however, extends beyond health promotion to health treatment. Social prescribing links people with health or social care needs to community-based, non-clinical health and social care interventions to improve health and wellbeing. Nature-based social prescribing (NBSP) is a variant that uses the health-promoting benefits of activities carried out in natural environments, such as gardening and walking. Much current NBSP practice has been developed in the UK, and there is increasing global interest in its implementation. This requires interventions to be adapted for different contexts, considering the needs of populations and the structure of healthcare systems.
Methods This paper presents results from an expert group participatory workshop involving 29 practitioners, researchers, and policymakers from the UK and Germany’s health and environmental sectors. Using the UK and Germany, two countries with different healthcare systems and in different developmental stages of NBSP practice, as case studies, we analysed opportunities, challenges, and facilitators for the development and implementation of NBSP.
Results We identified five overarching themes for developing, implementing, and evaluating NBSPCapacity Building; Accessibility and Acceptability; Networks and Collaborations; Standardised Implementation and Evaluation; and Sustainability. We also discuss key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for each overarching theme to understand how they could be developed to support NBSP implementation.
Conclusions NBSP could offer significant public health benefits using available blue and green spaces. We offer guidance on how NBSP implementation, from wider policy support to the design and evaluation of individual programmes, could be adapted to different contexts. This research could help inform the development and evaluation of NBSP programmes to support planetary health from local and global scales.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Green social prescribing; Nature-based social prescribing; Environment; Health; Policy; Natural environments; Public health |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Medicine and Population Health |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 19 Jun 2024 14:54 |
Last Modified: | 20 Nov 2024 15:35 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108801 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:213701 |
Available Versions of this Item
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Nature-based social prescribing programmes: opportunities, challenges, and facilitators for implementation. (deposited 19 Jun 2024 15:02)
- Nature-based social prescribing programmes: opportunities, challenges, and facilitators for implementation. (deposited 19 Jun 2024 14:54) [Currently Displayed]