Prescribing nature: A practical guide to nature-based therapies for health and social care professionals
EuroHealthNet-RESONATE Guide
Prescribing nature
A practical guide to nature-based therapies for health and social care professionals
About this guide
Developed by EuroHealthNet for the RESONATE project, this guide aims to support the wider use of nature-based therapies (NbTs) in health and social care practice to promote health and wellbeing. It offers practical guidance for professionals who want to start prescribing or referring people to NbTs, or strengthen and scale up existing practice.
This guide is intended for professionals working in health and social care settings who are well placed to recommend, refer to or prescribe NbTs. It is designed to be useful whether the idea of nature-based social prescribing is new to you or already part of your practice.
The guide is grounded in the realities of practice. EuroHealthNet interviewed health and social care professionals across Europe and Canada to understand what helps and hinders the uptake of NbTs, including the barriers prescribers face, what makes prescribing easier, and what support they need.
Nature is one of the oldest medicines we have, and one of the least prescribed. The evidence that time in green and blue spaces supports mental and physical health, strengthens social connection and builds resilience, is becoming substantial. What has been missing is a bridge between that evidence and the daily reality of health and social care practice. This guide is that bridge.
Caroline Costongs
EuroHealthNet
The RESONATE project (Building individual and community resilience through nature-based therapies) brings together experts in nature-based therapies (NbTs) to demonstrate nature’s biopsychosocial, resilience-building capacities, and to show how locally acceptable and inclusive NbTs can be implemented to help build healthier and more resilient individuals and communities.
