London,UK Posted 2 years, 10 months ago
Green Social Prescribing Connects Isolated Individuals Through Nature
10 innovative green social prescribing projects are connecting more than 7,500 people through nature, in a bid to improve health and wellbeing with the power of the natural world
Thriving Communities Fund, a new national support programme for voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise groups, is funding the projects that aim to help communities in England impacted by health inequalities and COVID-19, through green social prescribing.
The 10 projects see local communities partake in a variety of outdoor activities designed to connect individuals through theatre, conservation, green gyms, farming, food growing projects and alfresco cafes.
Social prescribing connects local people with a link worker who helps that person connect with community-based activities that are beneficial to their individual health and wellbeing needs. In the case of green social prescribing, this initiative works with nature-based interventions to encourage people to connect with the well-versed benefits of outdoor projects.
Getting in touch with nature has been a lifeline for many as we’ve navigated the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, research from April 2020 conducted by leading mental health charity, Mental Health Foundation revealed that 60% of the studies’ recipients used outside walks as their coping mechanisms in the height of the pandemic. This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week (10 May - 16 May) theme of nature, invites us to celebrate our connection to green space for positive mental wellbeing.
Green social prescribing projects
“The pandemic has affected communities, isolating people from family, friends and activities that previously supported them,” says Jo March, Arts, Health and Wellbeing Lead at The Arts Development Trust leading the Nature Buddies project in Dorset. “We know the impact of nature and participation in arts or physical activities on wellbeing has never been so important and that Dorset’s natural and cultural landscape can have a large part to play in this.”
Just one of the green social prescribing projects, Nature Buddies has trained 100 link workers and other healthcare providers to connect individuals with anxiety and low confidence to 30 nature-inspired activities in the Dorset area.
"The open space of Delapre Park, which sits within an urban environment, provides an opportunity for people to come together and be safe together.”
Read the full article at: happiful
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