Your Next Prescription? Time in Nature

What Is Green Social Prescribing?

Green social prescribing is an approach where healthcare professionals connect people with nature-based activities to support their mental, physical, and social wellbeing. Instead of a traditional prescription, individuals might be referred to things like community gardening, guided nature walks, conservation projects, outdoor exercise groups, or time spent in local parks and green spaces.

Why the NHS is embracing it

There’s a growing recognition that nature isn’t just “nice”, it’s deeply therapeutic. Here are a few of the key reasons behind the NHS’s push to increase the amount of green prescriptions in the UK:

1. Improving mental health

   Evidence from pilots shows that nature-based social prescribing can significantly boost people’s mental wellbeing.

   
   

2. Cost-effectiveness

   According to the National Academy for Social Prescribing, every £1 invested into their green social prescribing programme has generated a social return in investment of up to £2.42,  a strong value case for nature-based interventions.

   
   

3. Reducing system pressure

   By referring people into community-led, non-clinical nature activities, the NHS hopes to ease demand on its more resource-intensive services.

Evidence at work: what the research shows

Some of the outcomes from a study on 8,300 people in the UK with mental health needs who were part of the Green Social Prescribing Programme:

• Happiness increased from an average of 5.3 out of 10 to 7.5, above the national average of 7.4.

• Life satisfaction increased from an average of 4.7 out of 10 to 6.8 (national average 7.5).

• Feeling that life is worthwhile increased from an average of 5.1 out of 10 to 6.8 (national average 7.7).

• Levels of anxiety reduced from an average of 4.8 out of 10 to 3.4 (national average 3.2).

The bigger picture: nature as healthcare

Green social prescribing isn’t just a trendy health intervention, it’s becoming a core part of how the NHS thinks about prevention, mental health, and community care. By weaving nature into the fabric of healthcare, the system is acknowledging something we all intuitively know: time in the natural world heals.

It’s not just about a walk in the park. It’s about reconnecting with something fundamental, finding space to breathe, and giving people a meaningful, low-cost way to care for their health. For the NHS, that might be one of the most powerful prescriptions of all.

Practical steps to reconnect

• Set aside screen-free green time. Try 10–15 minutes outside daily, with your phone on airplane mode or left behind.

• Replace scrolling rituals with outdoor ones. Step outside when you’d normally check your feed. Notice the air, light, and sound instead.

• Engage your senses. Focus on what you can see, hear, smell, and feel, this anchors you in the present moment.

• Join a guided mindful walk. Sometimes it helps to be led. Structured experiences can show you how to reconnect with nature more deeply. Re: Nature specialises in doing just that. Click here to discover more