What is Green Social Prescribing?

What is green social prescribing?

Green social prescribing, often referred to as green prescribing, is an alternative non-clinical approach to help support individuals with their mental health and wellbeing. What makes it different to the wider known social prescribing approach, is that it embraces its support through nature-based activities.  

Some examples could include gardening projects, walking initiatives, outdoor exercise classes, as well as nature-based art and creativity workshops.  

Announced as a cross-governmental project, green social prescribing aims to: 

• Improve mental health outcomes  
• Reduce health inequalities  
• Reduce demand and pressure for clinical services  
• Spread awareness of the benefits of nature-based activities on mental health to increase accessibility to them 

What is blue social prescribing? 

Blue social prescribing, also blue prescribing, like green social prescribing, is a non-clinical approach to help improve individuals’ mental health and wellbeing through nature-based activities. However, unlike green prescribing, blue social prescribing harnesses their support by water-based activities.  

Here blue prescribing can offer activities which are both high intensity and low intensity depending on an individual’s needs, such as white-water rafting, open water swimming, canoeing, or fishing to name a few.  

Benefits of green and blue social prescribing activities

Evidence has shown participants who have taken part in blue social prescribing projects have both improved their physical health and reduced social isolation. Both green and blue social prescribing is very similar, and some projects may incorporate a mixture of the two to appeal to more people. The important thing to remember is both create beneficial outcomes and highlights being outdoors has a great positive impact on someone’s mental wellbeing.  

Green social prescribing- the funding

 

In July 2020 George Eustice, the Environmental Secretary, announced a £4 million investment for cross-governmental projects to support people suffering with mental health issues through green social prescribing. This funding has now been increased further taking the total to £5.77 million, thanks to contributions from NHS England and NHS improvement, Sport England, and the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP).  

Through integrating more green social prescribing projects we are working well towards the NHS’ long term plan to expand the number of Social Prescribing Link Workers and working towards more person-centred care.  

Why is green social prescribing important? 

Green social prescribing is important for both people’s mental and physical health. Living through Covid-19 highlighted a variety of things including the importance of being outdoors, and the inequality of access to green spaces. Not everyone was lucky enough to have big outdoor parks or forests to walk through, or beautiful beaches to walk along. 

Some individuals living in more socio-economically disadvantaged areas suffered a greater decline in their mental health compared to the rest of the UK. The plummeting decline in individuals’ mental health further added pressure on an already stressful and unprecedented time for the NHS. The announcement of increased investment to implement green social prescribing in July 2020 could not have come a better time for England and was the start of taking control in managing mental health again in such an unprecedented time.  

Green social prescribing – What are the aims? 

It was announced that the green social prescribing cross-governmental project would run for two years by multiple partners all working towards: 

• Improving mental health outcomes  
• Reducing health inequalities  
• Reducing demand for clinical services within the NHS 
• Developing best practice in making sure green social prescribing schemes are highly accessible and resilient to any barriers that could occur 

Green social prescribing is important therefore not just to help individuals or the community, but for the country as a whole. It is an essential move to ensure patients can not only learn about how to improve their mental health but manage it too. For us as a country to tackle the increasing mental health problems we are experiencing, delivering a successful green social prescribing program will help relieve pressure on the NHS.  

What is the evidence for green social prescribing?  

 

Since 1998 New Zealand have been issuing green prescriptions and are seen as fore-runners and promoters of green social prescribing. 71% of their patients who received a green prescription noticed long-term positive changes to their health.  

From looking at New Zealand’s successes it is clear green social prescribing is a cost-effective strategy to encourage greater physical and healthier behaviours in day-to-day lives. 

Green social prescribing examples  

Currently in the UK evidence has shown that people who visit nature regularly feel their lives to be more worthwhile. Equally emerging evidence has shown positive associations with greater exposure to outdoor blue spaces such as lakes and rivers positively benefitting mental health.  

It is estimated that three quarters of people with mental health problems do not receive support at all. Green social prescribing makes support more accessible and helps individuals that can potentially slip through the system.  

Y Dref Werdd – Wales  

Y Dref Werdd is a Welsh green social prescribing service that has recently started working with Access Elemental Social Prescribing. Y Dref Werdd in English means green town and they work hard to help families reduce their energy usage, guide and train individuals to get qualifications in conservation, whilst enabling people to improve their mental health and wellbeing by spending more time in the fresh air.  

Y Dref Werdd is based in Vale of Ffestiniog and has 34 parts covering the area. It is a great example of how green social prescribing not only improves your mental health and wellbeing but educates you on the environment and area where you live and importance of protecting it.  

Green social prescribing pilots 

Project in the Park – North Yorkshire 

Project in the park embeds green social prescribing within services they already provide to get people outside, to meet new people, and be in the fresh air. It aims to help more people from all backgrounds to connect with nature to support their mental health and wellbeing.  From this project people grew in confidence and it became the norm in their healthcare system to take advantage of the green opportunities individuals had around them.  

The Green Walking Initiative  

The Green Walking Initiative piloted the introduction of weekly walks in greenspaces for psychiatric inpatients accompanied by members of staff. This is a rare example of a nature-based therapy in secondary care and addresses the inequalities in accessing greenspaces when staying in hospitals. Staff who took part in the pilot explained how patients were transformed by the walks and that the effect was unbelievable.  

Green social prescribing – the challenges 

 

Like social prescribing, there are barriers that can negatively impact the outcomes of green social prescribing. A variety of research has shown that the creation of green social prescribing landscapes is very complex and is heavily reliant on socioeconomic conditions.  

A major barrier in green social prescribing is making sure there is shared understanding between Link Workers, GP surgeries, and potential patients. Without a shared understanding referrals will be limited, patients’ mental health will not improve, and GPs will still have long waiting times. 

Green social prescribing challenges – academic research  

Recently Fixen and Barrett released a study where they interviewed a variety of people involved in green social prescribing including: stakeholders, Link Workers, and GPs in both urban and rural areas of Scotland and North-East England. Their findings concluded whilst stakeholders agreed about the benefits of nature-based interventions on mental health, Link Workers highlighted barriers that can occur when implementing outdoor activities such as: 

• Health anxieties  
• Mobility issues  
• Transport deficits  

How to implement green social prescribing? 

Since investing into green social prescribing, the NHS have introduced 4 test and learn sites around England concentrating on the most disproportionately affected areas first. They had a variety of objectives such as:  

• Understanding and addressing  barriers e.g. transport issues or mobility issues  
• Implementing and targeting co-designed interventions to help scale up green social prescribing  
• Increasing referrals to nature-based activities  
• Sharing your results with other schemes to improve overall outcomes of green social prescribing  
• Empower other areas to design and produce green social prescribing schemes by highlighting the benefits your schemes have  

Here at Access Elemental Social Prescribing we have a variety of customers running their own green social prescribing schemes. Small Woods is a green social prescribing scheme that allows individuals to discover and take part in woodland projects to help with sustainable woodland management whilst improving their wellbeing.  

We know that social prescribing works and we are passionate to help gather the evidence to prove it. We want green social prescribing to continue progressing so a referral to a gardening club is a norm like getting prescribed medication.

Discover our social prescribing software today, and learn how your local area can help individuals improve their mental health by spending more time outdoors whilst reducing pressure on the NHS. Contact us now and let's start your social prescribing journey.