Words Kelly Finerty
Canada’s Nature Prescription springs you into a season of wellness in the great outdoors.
We Island folks have all been there. It’s the remaining weeks of a long rainy season on the Peninsula, the “blues” have set in, and time spent in the “grey” has felt a little too long – often leading to more time scrolling travel sites to escape somewhere warm, and less time outdoors in our own backyard.
Fret not! The wet and dreary months are nearly over as typically in April, Peninsula residents welcome the sunnier skies of spring. Flowers bloom from months of misty rain, boots are traded in for comfy sneakers, and bunnies leap forward with the last seasonal time change hiding chocolate eggs for the young people in Dominion Brook Park. What a perfect time of year to think about spending more time in nature, and enjoying the sights, and sites, the Peninsula has to offer. Remember the saying: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away?” Well, in the age of medical research and holistic wellness treatments, that saying may be due for an update to something along the lines of “nature time and greenery, less doctor’s office scenery.” Regrettably, slogans are not my strength, but the sentiment remains with a new kind of prescription many healthcare providers are recommending to their patients.
Arriving on the scene in 2020, Canada’s Nature Prescription, also known as a Parks Canada Discovery Pass (PaRx), is a relatively new method PaRx-registered physicians, healthcare providers and mental health professionals use to recommend time in nature as treatment for their patients managing a myriad of health concerns. Several conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke can effectively use a nature prescription, collaboratively aligning holistic practice and medicine with the goal of improved overall well-being. The PaRx website notes time in nature “backed by decades of research, can improve heart and immune function, reduce stress in adults, and boost vision, focus, and brain development in children,” listing hundreds of peer-reviewed academic articles outlining the benefits in clinical, psychological and social health: subsets of overall wellness important to managing conditions weighed down by the goings-on life inevitably produces throughout the year.
Dr. Eric Williams, a registered clinical counsellor and adjunct professor at UBC medical school, agrees. “Spending time in nature is about connecting with an environment that directly soothes and replenishes. Nature has a profound effect on our mind, body and sense of well-being that is hard to replicate. The sights and sounds of nature serve as a sort of circuit breaker, helping to return us to a more balanced operating state.”
A formal PaRx for treatment feels different for many Canadians. The BC Parks Foundation Healthy by Nature website explains “75% of Canadians say they would spend more time in nature if their doctor recommended it.” Additionally, Canada’s Nature Prescription has partnered with several organizations, and some, like the Butterfly Gardens, offer a discount with a PaRx prescription on admission prices. Ultimately, Canada’s Nature Prescription is not only a document you can show off to the sword ferns as you hike the North Saanich Urban Trail (although I do think the foliage would approve), it is also a cost savings and motivator with support from your PaRx-registered healthcare provider cheering you on to better health.
So, as we welcome brighter skies this April on the Peninsula, it’s always a good idea to get a head start as the rains peter out, and improve health and well-being by walking, rolling or paddling in the South Island’s natural spaces. I can certainly get behind this after a sessile existence hibernating this winter like a barnacle, so I am certain a frolic in great outdoors would do wonders for my overall health!
Find out more about Canada’s Nature Prescription (PaRx) and their partners at www.parkprescriptions.ca.
