The nature based social prescribing team, led by James Fullam and Ruth Garside, have published a new “Nature on Prescription Handbook” aimed at providers of group nature-based interventions that target common mental health conditions, and that are (or will be) delivered via social prescribing schemes. The content will also be of interest to link workers, general practitioners, mental health practitioners, and researchers with an interest in social prescribing.

You can download our handbook by going to the Nature on Prescription Handbook page. This will take you to a simple form where we will ask you for your email address and organisation so we can measure impact and reach of the handbook. There will also be an opt-in tick box if you are happy for us to contact you regarding future research in this area.

This handbook is about how Nature on Prescription can be used to support people’s mental health, and makes evidence-based suggestions for how to develop and implement a high-quality scheme, in the new social prescribing landscape. The content is intended to assist development of interventions that are beneficial, safe, and sustainable. We hope this handbook may: help avoid pitfalls that may lead to Nature on Prescription failing to support people appropriately; make the most of programmes from the earliest stages; help reach desired outcomes for both organisations and participants; and help in designing appropriate evaluations.

We produced an interactive model of the evidence-based pathways between nature on prescription activities, mechanisms of action and outcomes. Visit https://beccalovell.kumu.io/activities-mechanisms-and-outcomes-in-nature-on-prescription to read more about how nature on prescription activities relate to emotional, cognitive, physical and social outcomes.

Further information on the linked Nature on Prescription project is available on the webpage here: https://www.ecehh.org/research/nature-prescription/

James Fullam, Harriet Hunt, Rebecca Lovell, Kerryn Husk, Richard Byng, David Richards, Dan Bloomfield, Sara Warber, Mark Tarrant, Jenny Lloyd, Noreen Orr, Lorna Burns, Ruth Garside (2021) A handbook for Nature on Prescription to promote mental health. Version 1. University of Exeter.