Prescription for nature, fresh air and green space improves mental health
RHS Garden Bridgewater has been involved in a scheme which shows the prescribing of activities in nature has helped more than 8,000 people across England suffering with mental health problems
NHS England’s Green Social Prescribing Programme’s overall aim is to improve people’s mental health and reduce both health inequalities and the demand on the health and social care system. It is thought to be the largest project in the world so far, to ensure that those most in need, living in disadvantaged areas with poor access to nature, receive vital support for their health and wellbeing.
RHS Garden Bridgewater has been involved in the programme, following a government pledge to transform mental health services and increase social prescribing and personalised care. This is part of the NHS Long Term Plan and also forms part of the government’s 25-year environment plan to support more people, from all backgrounds, to engage with and spend time in green and blue spaces in their everyday lives.
The social benefits of gardening
The Green Social Prescribing project has been largely successful at RHS Bridgewater
RHS Bridgewater has been involved and the position of an RHS Therapeutic Gardener was appointed. Ozichi Brewster, a mental health professional, was choosen for this role. In 2019, Ozichi worked with a local NHS care team and the University of Salford in a programme which aimed to benefit up to 75 people through supported garden activities as a pilot project. The programme ended but social prescribing has continued successfully at RHS Bridgewater. Ozichi and a team of wellbeing volunteers continue to work with people referred through Salford’s award-winning Wellbeing Matters Social Prescribing team.
A group of friends at RHS Bridgewater during the celebration event in partnership with Greater Manchester NHS to mark the end of the Social Prescribing pilot
A participant in the RHS Bridgewater session said: “Having dealt with depression and anxiety for a third of my life, I assumed there wasn’t much prospect for me. I’d previously worked in demanding, high-stress jobs but over time my deteriorating health meant I was no longer able to cope so well. Then I stumbled onto something that made a real difference – gardening. Following a GP referral, I started attending the RHS Bridgewater sessions every Monday. This turned out to be my safe space, and it further fuelled a real love for gardening that the ‘old me’ didn’t see coming. Looking back, this journey into gardening is more than just digging and planting. It’s been a lifeline, a way to rebuild and find purpose.”
Gardening increases happiness
Results of the 2021-2023 GPS project showed that gardening increases happiness and reduces anxiety
The 2021-23 GSP project was assessed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and extended because of positive results until 2025. Results showed people’s feelings of happiness and ‘of finding life worthwhile’ jumped to near national averages and levels of anxiety fell significantly.
Average happiness scores went from 5.3 out of 10 to 7.5 and feelings that life was worthwhile rose from 4.7 to 6.8. Reported levels of anxiety fell from 4.8 to 3.4.
Connecting with nature is a lifelong resource
Gardening can be accessible to everybody, regardless of mobility levels
They can help people who may become isolated, providing time and relationships that are critical to building confidence and reconnecting. There are many different types of nature-based activities and therapies, including conservation, horticulture and gardening, care farming, exercise and sports, or talking therapies in the outdoors.
Dr Marion Steiner, a GP in Bristol and part of the pilot project in the west country, said: “Connecting with nature is a lifelong resource with proven benefits for mental and physical health. It can cut through generations of adverse life events. However, many of the patients I treat can’t currently access nature in this way due to a range of personal, social, and cultural barriers. That’s why green social prescribing is so important. This project has the potential to reduce a range of prescribing and treatment costs for the NHS, as well as addressing many health needs and lowering the risk of several diseases, from diabetes to depression.”
Ozichi Brewster, Therapautic Gardener at RHS Bridgewater said: “For millennia, we have been aware of the deep restorative power of being in nature and way back much of our livelihood was connected to the outdoors. The disconnection with nature coupled with our sedentary and immersion in a technology-led lifestyle is a result of many of the chronic health problems that we are experiencing. Increasing our regular interaction in the green physical world as part of our lifestyle can be deeply restorative whether it is gardening, walking and sitting in green spaces, the result is always healing, and this is because we are part of the cycle of nature and have an innate need to be connected, without it we get ill.”
