Faced with the proliferation of studies showing that green spaces are good for health, Canada has just decided to offer certain patients access to the country’s great natural parks.
- 16 million hectares of forest cover France today.
- In 2020, 80.87% of French people lived in urban areas.
Canadian doctors can now “prescribe” nature walks for their patients. Since the beginning of the year, the PaRx program has enabled these healthcare professionals to give patients free tickets allowing them to access the country’s major natural parks.
Less stress and better immunity
Spending more time in nature has indeed many positive effects on mental health, such as improving self-esteem or reducing stress, depression, anxiety, attention disorders (ADHD) and post-traumatic stress disorder. Research has also shown that regular exposure to natural environments improves memory, cognitive flexibility, attention, the immune system, and even heart function.
All these positive impacts on the health of green spaces, which have been known in Japan for millennia, are as much due to the physical activity engendered by walks as to the particular connection of our brain with nature. Many experiments show that the simple fact of looking at beautiful images of beaches or listening to the chirping of crickets can have beneficial effects on body and mind.
And in France ?
In France, attending physicians cannot yet deliver immersions in nature on prescription. On the other hand, since 2017, they have been able to prescribe preventive “sport health” sessions to their patients, and even “sport on prescription” to treat certain chronic pathologies, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, obesity or the consequences of cancer.
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