Pharmacy Daily | Dispensary Corner 05 Apr 23

IMAGINE that a doctor prescribes a new treatment.

It's pleasant and enjoyable, and you can have as much as you want.

Potential side effects include spontaneous euphoria and being in a good mood.

Not to mention, it's free and available all around you.

It's not a drug or some other medical procedure that your doctor has recommended.

Instead, it is a 'nature prescription' - a recommendation to spend time in nature.

Researchers from UNSW Sydney assessed international evidence for nature prescriptions and their ability to improve health.

They analysed 28 studies that tested nature prescriptions in real-world patients.

The systematic review and meta-analysis, published yesterday in The Lancet Planetary Health, found that nature prescriptions provided both physical and mental health benefits.

Patients had reduced blood pressure, lower depression and anxiety scores - and they had a higher daily step count.

"What we need now is to work out how to make nature prescriptions happen in a sustained way for those people with high potential to benefit, but who currently spend little time in nature," said lead researcher Prof Xiaoqi Feng.

The researchers want a nature prescriptions scheme to start in Australia.