For several years, authorized health professionals have been prescribing “forest baths” to some of their patients. Now they can also make them a prescription for a free entry ticket to Canadian national parks.
A breath of fresh air is blowing through the Canadian medical sector. Health professionals can now prescribe free cards giving them access to the country’s national parks. As reported Radio Canada, Canada allows them to issue restraining orders “forest baths”, under a specific program. The patients “suffering from depression or anxiety disorders” are particularly affected.
“’Nature Prescriptions’, launched in November 2020 in British Columbia, is part of a program called ‘Park Prescriptions’, or ‘PaRx’, which was extended last year to Ontario , Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Explain The Toronto Star, which includes information from The Canadian Press agency. But until now, entrance tickets to national parks were not offered.” The pilot project to prescribe free visits to national parks is to last three years and apply nationwide.
Physical and psychological benefits
Health professionals recommend passing “at least two hours a week” in nature, specifies the site of Radio Canada. prescribed in addition to other treatments, these “forest baths” in particular help to lower the cortisol level of patients subject to stress, helping them to “feel more calm, happy and connected to their community”. They also encourage patients to practice regular physical activity.
“The benefits are significant, University of Victoria psychologist Frederick Grouzet told the Canadian media. We see it on the physical level, but also on the mental level […] It creates more positive emotions.”
More than 1,100 Canadian health professionals are currently authorized to prescribe walks in national parks. According to The Toronto Star, programs similar to the PaRx initiative exist in parts of the US and UK, “but there is no national nature prescription system, as there is in Canada”.
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