Resources

This Research Digest explores the potential of nature and park prescriptions to support children’s health and well-being.

In 2009, Janet Ady of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stood before a crowd of grassroots leaders gathered by the Children & Nature Network....

Blowing bubbles, breathing salty ocean air, collecting violet blooms — sounds like good medicine! At Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), the Prescribe Outside program helps doctors write “nature prescriptions” for their patients. With support from the Children & Nature Network’s Nature Everywhere initiative, more than 50 providers across six CHOP locations have written prescriptions, reaching some 1,300 families and children. The prescriptions are tailored to each family and might include playing soccer with neighbors or exploring nearby parks. Working with partners, the program also offers organized hikes, outdoor yoga, farm tours and other family outings. Bonus: Some events welcome hospital staff, too, helping caregivers enjoy the same stress-relieving benefits they prescribe. Philadelphia.

According to the BC Parks Foundation, spending time in nature is one of the pillars of good health — and just as important as nutrition, exercise and sleep. Canadian life and health insurance company Manulife recently put its weight behind that idea, becoming the first insurer in the world to support a national nature prescription program. The investment will help expand PaRx, a BC Parks Foundation program that allows health care providers to prescribe time outdoors to support physical and mental health. The backing includes free access to select parks and conservation areas, making it easier for more Canadians to participate. Launched in 2020, PaRx has grown quickly: More than 18,000 providers have written over 1.5 million prescriptions for time in nature. Manulife.

In Canada, an innovative and proactive approach to health care is taking root. Halton Healthcare is now the first hospital system in Canada to partner with PaRx, an evidence-based initiative endorsed by the Canadian Medical Association that encourages professionals to prescribe time spent in nature as medicine. “We know that incorporating these preventative lifestyle measures is an excellent step towards setting up healthier communities and providing holistic care,” hospitalist and physician Dr. Nivedita Patel said. Today, over 16,000 Canadian health care professionals are registered to prescribe time in nature, collectively issuing more than one million nature prescriptions. Global News.

Recent research suggests that spending time in nature benefits not only our bodies and minds, but our sense of community. Studies led by psychology professor Marc Berman find that time in greenspaces fosters “self-transcendence,” helping us feel part of something larger than ourselves. Yet access to nature is unequal and shrinking: Around 100 million Americans lack a park within a 10-minute walk — and kids are increasingly finding other ways to fill the time they would have spent outdoors. “Children’s freedom and autonomy to roam went away first, and then screens filled that time in,” said Louise Chawla, professor emerita and Children & Nature Network Scientific Advisory Council member. The solution may be what Berman calls a “nature revolution:” We must redesign cities, schools and everyday life to include nature. Noēma.

In Greeley, Colorado, the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment’s OutdoorRx program promotes the benefits of spending time in nature as a health intervention. Studies show that time spent outdoors reduces blood pressure, anxiety and stress while improving cognitive function and cardiovascular health. Even brief periods outside, like sitting in your frontyard, can enhance well-being and counteract the negative effects of excessive screen time. So, join Greeley in getting your Vitamin N(ature) this summer. UCHealth Today.

Dr. Robert Zarr wants to reimagine health care. Zarr was an early proponent of nature prescriptions, the increasingly popular phenomenon that seeks to formalize the link between...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of several U.S. cities that’s joined the growing nature prescription movement. Nature prescriptions are formal recommendations from healthcare professionals that encourage patients to...

Adapted excerpts from Richard Louv's plenary keynote address to the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference, Oct. 2, 2010 in San Francisco. On Oct....

In today’s rapidly digitizing world, our youths’ lives are increasingly dominated by screens. As of the time of writing this article, we are observing a concerning upward...

Parks play an important role in the physical and mental health of children and families and the resilience of communities. However, there are barriers to park access and use that often fall along income, racial and geographic lines. Improving access to high quality, welcoming and inclusive parks is one important way to enhance nature’s benefits and create more equitable outcomes.

Each year, the Children and Nature Network awards the Richard Louv Prize for Innovation In Nature Connection. Through our application and selection process, we discover remarkable leaders making a difference globally. These individuals showcase unparalleled dedication to the natural world, our climate and the well-being of our youth. Learn more about these inspiring leaders below.

Studies highlighted in this Digest focus on the use of nature to achieve therapeutic goals. Different approaches and different populations served are addressed.

This Digest focuses on factors limiting children’s engagement with nature, some residing in the child and/or family; some associated with urban parks and public greenspaces; some specific to schools.

Mental health isn't just about clinical care — it’s about the environments where children live, learn and play. Evidence shows that nature connection can enhance children’s mental...

This Digest focuses on nature as a promoter of resilience in vulnerable children and youth

For many youth in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, safe and accessible green space can be hard to come by — an unfortunate circumstance, considering the plethora of health benefits...

Each year, the Children and Nature Network awards the Richard Louv Prize for Innovation In Nature Connection. Through our application and selection process, we discover remarkable leaders making a difference globally. These individuals showcase unparalleled dedication to the natural world, our climate and the well-being of our youth. Learn more about these inspiring leaders below.

This special issue focuses on the physical health benefits of both passive and active forms of nature engagement. Also discussed are several ideas about how health-care professionals are tapping into the health-promoting powers of nature engagement.

In this article written for Sierra Magazine, Louv calls for recognition of nature as a basic human right of all people—and for recognition of the inherent rights of nature.

This Digest offers evidence-based suggestions for using nature to promote the mental health and resilience of children impacted by adversity.

In this issue of the Digest we explore how accessing neighborhood nature is an important strategy for building resilience, buffering stress, and recovering from adversity.

Family-based nature engagement – when children and their parents or caregivers experience a nature-based activity together – can take place everywhere from the backyard to parks and wilderness and even in women’s shelters and prisons. As this Research Digest shows, spending time in nature as a family is good for the whole family.

Adapted from keynote address, American Camp Association National Conference, Feb. 22, 2012 When I was a teenager, I resented camp. Because I never went to camp. Every summer, my buddy...

Do we really want to improve the nation's health care system – or just throw more money at it? If better health is the true objective, a seldom-mentioned...

Join me in the movement to connect children and nature