‘These salt marshes saved my life’: how nature is helping mental health
This article is a really interesting insight into the therapeutic qualities of the countryside. In a theme which runs through Hinterland this week it speaks to us about the relationship between coastal places, the sea and its tributaries and people’s sense of well-being. It tells us:
There is already good evidence of nature’s efficacy, such as a 2019 study showing that a two-hour “dose” ofnature a week significantly improved health and wellbeing. The missing link has been connecting health services and nature activities.
“These activities have being going for years, it’s just that they often have not had that connection into the health systems to enable them to receive the people who need the benefits the most, and to deliver precisely what they need,” says Dave Solly, at the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP), which was launched in 2019 with funding from the Department of Health.
But things are changing. Seven NHS care groups from the Humber to Surrey received a combined £5m in government funding in December for projects harnessing nature to improve mental health, including tree planting and growing food. There are also now more than 1,000 social prescribing link workers working in GP surgeries and health clinics, helping doctors link patients to nature activities, as well as arts, heritage and exercise groups. A million people could be referred to social prescribing in the next few years.
Among the projects championed by NASP are Wild Being in Reading, an open-water swimming group in Portsmouth, Dorset Nature Buddies, the Green Happy cafe in Northampton, and a Moving in Nature project in Chingford, Essex.