{"id":1934,"date":"2016-01-23T02:51:20","date_gmt":"2016-01-23T10:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/?p=1934"},"modified":"2016-01-21T21:43:29","modified_gmt":"2016-01-22T05:43:29","slug":"the-irish-green-prescription-for-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/featured\/the-irish-green-prescription-for-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"The Irish Green Prescription for Mental Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sky<\/p>\n

I’ve talked about the importance of the outdoors and general communing with nature\u00a0in maintaining\u00a0health in previous posts. \u00a0The people in Ireland are taking the notion even further.<\/p>\n

The Green Prescription<\/h1>\n

A\u00a0group called Nature, Health, and Wellbeing Ireland is initiating a program called the\u00a0Green Prescription Initiative.The initiative runs along the lines of Shinrin-Yoku<\/a>\u00a0and the Nature prescription<\/a> but is specifically aimed at people facing high stress and mental health or emotional issues. \u00a0It also directly involves a social worker and psychologist to support the individuals\u00a0that will participate. \u00a0The\u00a0program simply offers\u00a0two hour walks each week for eight weeks in three outdoor locations in the Dublin area. The professionally guided group walks will focus on nature contact, mindfulness, physical activity, expressive arts, and social connection. \u00a0All components associated with\u00a0mentally health people.<\/p>\n

Woodlands for Health<\/h1>\n

\"NationalA similar program operated through Wicklow Mental Health Services is called\u00a0Woodlands for Health. \u00a0It has been in operation in the Wicklow area, south of Dublin,\u00a0since 2012. \u00a0It offers a continually-repeating, 12 week program of nature walks. \u00a0The supporting idea is simply that the\u00a0combination\u00a0of walking and talking in a natural setting,\u00a0with\u00a0physical activity, will promote an improved sense of\u00a0well-being.<\/p>\n

According to The Irish Times<\/em>, January 2, 2016,\u00a0Health Services Ireland and University College Dublin\u00a0evaluated the program and\u00a0found that participants improved their mood by 75 percent and sleep by 66 percent. \u00a0Thoughts of suicide declined by 82 per cent. \u00a0At the same time, many participants reported less agitation and anxiousness. \u00a0Some were even able to reduce their medications\u00a0and doctor visits.<\/p>\n

Well-A-Head<\/h1>\n

\"MindWell-A-Head is a spin off of Woodlands for Health that removes the institutional connection. \u00a0It is a member led social support group for those with mental health issues. \u00a0Essentially it is like a hiking club with broader interests. \u00a0The group is involved in\u00a0tai chi, kayaking, yoga, crotchet, team building, use of an\u00a0outdoor gym, gardening, walking\u00a0and\u00a0social evenings\u00a0plus parachute jumping.<\/p>\n

This concept offers a healthful\u00a0place for socializing and building friendships while in the positive embrace of nature.<\/p>\n

Scientific Support<\/h1>\n

There is all kinds of scientific support for these interventions and I have mentioned some of the\u00a0studies\u00a0in past posts. \u00a0Here’s another:<\/p>\n

In a Stanford\u00a0study, \u00a0“Nature Experience Reduces Rumination and Subgenual Prefrontal Cortex Activation<\/a>,” \u00a0researchers found that people who walked for 90 minutes in a natural area, as opposed to participants who walked in a high-traffic urban setting, showed decreased activity in a region of the brain associated with a key factor in depression. Co-author\u00a0Gretchen Daily said, “These results suggest that accessible natural areas may be vital for mental health in our rapidly urbanizing world. Our findings can help inform the growing movement worldwide to make cities more livable, and to make nature more accessible to all who live in them.”<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h1>\n

As more and more research is supporting the importance of nature for mental health, mental health practitioners are bringing more of their clients outdoors. \u00a0It s clearly an effective method. \u00a0Beyond that, one doesn’t need a diagnosed mental health issue to take advantage of nature. \u00a0It’s good for everyone!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve talked about the importance of the outdoors and general communing with nature\u00a0in maintaining\u00a0health in previous posts. \u00a0The people in Ireland are taking the notion even further. The Green Prescription A\u00a0group called Nature, Health, and Wellbeing Ireland is initiating a program called the\u00a0Green Prescription Initiative.The initiative runs along the lines of Shinrin-Yoku\u00a0and the Nature prescription […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-helping-others","category-mental"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1934"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1940,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1934\/revisions\/1940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}