By moving upstream and examining the causes of “diseases of despair” one sees the need for broader efforts to support social connection, economic security, and other social and environmental determinants of health. One must support healing, hope, and opportunity as there is a strong relationship between social integration, loneliness and well-being.
Without a sense of belonging and positive social connections, individuals may experience a sense of deprivation that can lead to multidimensional pathology. Social prescribing can be used to benefit any condition that might be improved through behaviour change, increasing activity, and increasing connectedness - all three being related [1].
Tackling healthcare provision challenges (as well as successfully enhancing well-being) requires addressing the complex interplay between people’s health and their social worlds, one starts to moving beyond the traditional medical model of healthcare with its focus on medical professionals’ roles as medication prescribers, and instead embracing a more holistic approach.
It seems particularly healing to "promote nature contact, strengthen social structures, and improve longer term mental and physical health by activating intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental processes" through Nature-Based Social Prescribing [2] which can influence internal processes such as autonomy, competence, sense of belonging, sense of purpose, and sense of awe among others and facilitate dynamic processes of social or interpersonal interactions
Nature-based social activities lead to competence, sense of belonging, sense of enjoyment, sense of purpose, and sense of awe. Interpersonal processes included social involvement, relatedness, and shared learning. Environmental processes included access to nature, perceived neighborhood attachment, and perceived aesthetics.
Environmental features induce subconscious affective reactions which support psychophysiological stress recovery. Landscape features such as vegetation and water inspire positive emotions and reduce negative thoughts, while maintaining non-vigilant attention.
Attention Restoration Theory (ART) proposes nature has the capacity to renew attention and promotes wellness via reduced mental fatigue. In keeping with ART, a person can focus with “effortless attention” upon “soft fascinations” easily found in the natural world
Research has shown that connecting with others in nature can break down barriers between community members, increase feelings of connectedness with others, and reduce stress and have positive effects to influence pro-social, pro-health, and pro-environmental behavioural outcomes.
From [2].
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