The Nature of Scotland

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Visit your doctor nowadays and you might be prescribed some outdoor activity to improve your health. Ruth Jepson, from the department of nursing and midwifery at the University of Stirling, has been researching the subject 1 The path to good health will for some patients involve outdoors exercise. 2 ‘Green exercise’ can take many forms. Green prescriptions 1 56 The Nature of Scotland
2 It’s now widely agreed that ‘nature is good for you’, so it makes sense for doctors to prescribe activities that take place outdoors. GPs, nurses and physiotherapists in many parts of Scotland already prescribe physical activity for a range of health conditions. These ‘exercise referral schemes’ usually focus on indoor activities, such as swimming or going to the gym. ‘Green prescription schemes’ take it a step further, with health professionals able to prescribe or refer patients to exercise outdoors. There are lots of existing outdoor green exercise schemes in Scotland that could be suitable for green prescription. Many of these are group based (for instance walking groups, green gyms, gardening projects) and take place in the local community. They’re supported through a range of organisations such as Paths to Health, Trellis and the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers. People get the chance to take part in enjoyable outdoor physical activity, and at the same time they can learn more about their local area and meet new people. This can also help to reduce feelings of being socially isolated and not knowing anyone. NHS Health Scotland and SNH funded research earlier this year to find out more about the green prescription schemes that already exist in Scotland. The researchers looked at the number of green exercise schemes that aim to improve health, where they are and how they link in with health professionals. The study came up with over 170 green exercise schemes in Scotland, and 94 of them completed an online survey about their work. The 94 schemes are very diverse, not only in terms of size and what they provide, but also the health conditions they cater for and whether health professionals are involved. The target population is most commonly deskbound people and the general population, although a quarter of the schemes target people with mental health problems. For example, ‘Branching Out’ (a conservation scheme) and ‘Pedal Forth’ (a cycling scheme) are both referral schemes run for this group. There are two main ways that the schemes link up with health professionals. Firstly, some green exercise projects are directly involved with established exercise referral schemes. For example, ‘West Lothian on the Move’ is an exercise referral scheme that includes the option for people to walk with a group. The other link-up between schemes and health professionals comes through directly communicating and working with them. ‘Walk Deeside’ works with doctors and others to provide walks to support a range of health conditions, including diabetes and dementia. And ‘Galloway Strollers’ is another example of a scheme that has a referral method in place. Although there are many success stories, some of the schemes had difficulties convincing health professionals that outdoor activities were safe and really would benefit patients. And health professionals are busy people, who may forget to refer patients on to the activities. Indeed, there’s lots of scope for health professionals to increase the numbers of patients that they refer, and the scheme organisers are keen for this to happen. The full report is available from www.healthscotland. com/documents/4225.aspx and SNH has also published a series of health and natural heritage case studies at www.snh.gov.uk/about-snh/what-we-do/health-andwellbeing/healthier-scotland/green-exercise-projects www.snh.gov.uk 57
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Scottish Natural Heritage Summer 20
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Credits The Nature of Scotland The
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Summer Wild calendar Kenny Taylor g
Page 8 and 9: A bunny runs through it Mammal watc
Page 10 and 11: The great big paddle 1 Work has beg
Page 12 and 13: Celebrating 100,000 awards There ha
Page 14 and 15: Journey of discovery The John Muir
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Page 18 and 19: NEWS Positive and negative Beaver a
Page 20 and 21: NEWS ‘Operation Caesar’ launche
Page 22 and 23: Dualchas coitcheann Common heritage
Page 24 and 25: Fun in the sun 1 Almost 200 events
Page 26 and 27: Organised by SNH and partners, the
Page 28 and 29: A recent research study looked at p
Page 30 and 31: Welcome to Scotland’s nature 1 1
Page 32 and 33: oakwoods, there was a lot of chat a
Page 34 and 35: Ecofusion was inspired by the ‘Wo
Page 36 and 37: We two are one 34 The Nature of Sco
Page 38 and 39: 36Reserve focus Wetland wonder The
Page 40 and 41: 1 The floodplain naturally floods s
Page 42 and 43: 5 4 Watch out for redstarts and tre
Page 44 and 45: SNH Area News Grampian Corresponden
Page 46 and 47: SNH Area News Northern Isles Corres
Page 48 and 49: Events diary 2010 July Thursday 1 S
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Page 52 and 53: Scotland’s sea monster 50 The Nat
Page 54 and 55: 2 Basking sharks were once hunted w
Page 56 and 57: Survey work Fifty years later, and
Page 60 and 61: Kids only! Explore A rock pooL and
Page 62 and 63: Sound judgement A series of researc
Page 64 and 65: New discoveries Scotland’s coastl
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