It’s not a secret that spending time outdoors and soaking up nature and beautiful landscapes is good for your health. So wouldn’t it be cool if doctors could prescribe you to spend some time outdoors as a way to get better? Well, it turns out they actually can if you live in Canada.
Canada recently unveiled a new healthcare program that enables doctors to hand out prescriptions that will provide patients with free annual passes to national parks in Canada. National historic sites and national marine conservation areas are also expected to be part of the offer.
The program, which was made possible thanks to the partnership between the A Prescription for Nature (PaRx) initiative and Parks Canada, will have an initial run of 100 passes distributed between four provinces – British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Doctors could prescribe “nature time” to their patients for some time now, but this is the first time they have the discretion to send them to national parks.
If the initial run proves to be successful, Canada is expected to expand the program.
“There’s a strong body of evidence on the health benefits of nature time, from better immune function and life expectancy to reduced risk of heart disease, depression, and anxiety, and I’m excited to see those benefits increase through this new collaboration,” family physician Melissa Lem, who also serves as a director of the PaRx initiative, said in a statement.
If your country doesn’t offer similar possibilities, you might consider getting the “time outdoors” prescription from yourself. Even if there are no national parks in your proximity, spending some time in the local park or taking a short hike will positively impact your health.