Prescribing nature to boost mental health

Green social prescribing, which can include activities such as community gardening, mindful walks and conservation volunteering — as well as 'blue' activities like kayaking and wild swimming — is gaining traction. Results from a government-backed green social prescribing programme were published in September 2024, showing that it had a positive impact on measures of wellbeing and was able to reach a broader range of people than many other social prescribing initiatives. However, there are challenges to implementing green social prescribing, including commissioning arrangements, funding, and data collection and sharing. In this episode of The PJ Pod, Dawn Connelly, senior features editor, visits a charity that helps people to connect with nature in order to improve their mental wellbeing, hears about the latest evidence from researchers evaluating these nature-based interventions and talks to a mental health pharmacist who is working with social prescribing link workers to connect patients with nature. With thanks to Georgina Gould, clinical lead at Dose of Nature; Ruth Garside, professor of evidence synthesis at the University of Exeter; Julze Alejandre, a health promotion and policy specialist at the University of Edinburgh; and Dimple Khatiri, a mental health pharmacist and personalised care lead at a primary care network in Hertfordshire. A special thank you to Dose of Nature service-user Steve for sharing his story with us. This episode was produced by Geoff Marsh, with editorial support from executive editor Carolyn Wickware.