Resources for Health Providers
A growing body of evidence supports the claim that access to safe, natural areas improves health across a wide variety of outcomes, including cardiovascular health, mental health, weight management, ADHD, and stress among children. Prescribe Outside provides an alternative avenue for healthcare providers to support their patients by directing them to free, accessible outdoor programming facilitated by Let’s Go Outdoors. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) physician Dr. Barbara Rolnick (Roxborough clinic) and Drs. Sharon Sutherland and Natalie Minto (Cobbs Creek clinic) have been champions of the nature prescription movement in Philadelphia and invite their patients to participate in the Prescribe Outside events. To learn more, contact us at [email protected].
Additional Resources
Explore additional healthcare-based research about the health and wellness benefits of nature:
The American Public Health Association (APHA)
The APHA champions the health of all people and all communities and promotes improving health and wellness through access to nature. To learn more, click here.
The Children & Nature Network
The Children & Nature Network curates and summarizes peer-reviewed scientific literature that makes the case for connecting children with nature. To learn more, click here.
The American Journal of Health Promotion (AJHP)
The AJHP is a peer-reviewed journal advancing the science of health behavior change and the art of creating a culture of well-being. To learn more about a case study focused on the University of Maryland’s Health Center nature prescription program, click here.
Science Direct
This article “Green spaces and respiratory, cardiometabolic, and neurodevelopmental outcomes: An individual-participant data meta-analysis of >35.000 European children” highlights an analysis of green spaces on multiple outcomes in >35,000 children from 8 countries, found that living in greener areas during childhood was associated with better lung function, and showed effect direction varied by cohort for cardiometabolic and neurodevelopmental outcomes. To read more, click here.