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Nature Prescriptions for Health: A Review of Evidence and Research Opportunities

Nature prescription programs have emerged to address the high burden of chronic disease and increasingly sedentary and screen-based lifestyles. This study examines the base of evidence regarding such programs. We conducted a narrative review of published literature using four electronic databases. W...

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Autores principales: Kondo, Michelle C., Oyekanmi, Kehinde O., Gibson, Allison, South, Eugenia C., Bocarro, Jason, Hipp, J. Aaron
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7344564/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32545651
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124213
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author Kondo, Michelle C.
Oyekanmi, Kehinde O.
Gibson, Allison
South, Eugenia C.
Bocarro, Jason
Hipp, J. Aaron
author_facet Kondo, Michelle C.
Oyekanmi, Kehinde O.
Gibson, Allison
South, Eugenia C.
Bocarro, Jason
Hipp, J. Aaron
author_sort Kondo, Michelle C.
collection PubMed
description Nature prescription programs have emerged to address the high burden of chronic disease and increasingly sedentary and screen-based lifestyles. This study examines the base of evidence regarding such programs. We conducted a narrative review of published literature using four electronic databases. We included case studies, research design articles, and empirical studies that discussed any type of outdoor exposure or activities initiated by a health-care provider from an outpatient clinic. We examined articles for information on target populations, health outcomes, and structural and procedural elements. We also summarized evidence of the effectiveness of nature prescription programs, and discussed needs and challenges for both practice and research. Eleven studies, including eight empirical studies, have evaluated nature prescription programs with either structured or unstructured formats, referring patients either to nearby parks or to formal outdoor activity programs. Empirical studies evaluate a wide variety of health behaviors and outcomes among the most at-risk children and families. Research is too sparse to draw patterns in health outcome responses. Studies largely tested program structures to increase adherence, or patient follow-through, however findings were mixed. Three published studies explore providers’ perspectives. More research is necessary to understand how to measure and increase patient adherence, short and long-term health outcomes for patients and their families, and determinants of provider participation and participation impacts on providers’ own health.
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spelling pubmed-73445642020-07-09 Nature Prescriptions for Health: A Review of Evidence and Research Opportunities Kondo, Michelle C. Oyekanmi, Kehinde O. Gibson, Allison South, Eugenia C. Bocarro, Jason Hipp, J. Aaron Int J Environ Res Public Health Review Nature prescription programs have emerged to address the high burden of chronic disease and increasingly sedentary and screen-based lifestyles. This study examines the base of evidence regarding such programs. We conducted a narrative review of published literature using four electronic databases. We included case studies, research design articles, and empirical studies that discussed any type of outdoor exposure or activities initiated by a health-care provider from an outpatient clinic. We examined articles for information on target populations, health outcomes, and structural and procedural elements. We also summarized evidence of the effectiveness of nature prescription programs, and discussed needs and challenges for both practice and research. Eleven studies, including eight empirical studies, have evaluated nature prescription programs with either structured or unstructured formats, referring patients either to nearby parks or to formal outdoor activity programs. Empirical studies evaluate a wide variety of health behaviors and outcomes among the most at-risk children and families. Research is too sparse to draw patterns in health outcome responses. Studies largely tested program structures to increase adherence, or patient follow-through, however findings were mixed. Three published studies explore providers’ perspectives. More research is necessary to understand how to measure and increase patient adherence, short and long-term health outcomes for patients and their families, and determinants of provider participation and participation impacts on providers’ own health. MDPI 2020-06-12 2020-06 /pmc/articles/PMC7344564/ /pubmed/32545651 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124213 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Kondo, Michelle C.
Oyekanmi, Kehinde O.
Gibson, Allison
South, Eugenia C.
Bocarro, Jason
Hipp, J. Aaron
Nature Prescriptions for Health: A Review of Evidence and Research Opportunities
title Nature Prescriptions for Health: A Review of Evidence and Research Opportunities
title_full Nature Prescriptions for Health: A Review of Evidence and Research Opportunities
title_fullStr Nature Prescriptions for Health: A Review of Evidence and Research Opportunities
title_full_unstemmed Nature Prescriptions for Health: A Review of Evidence and Research Opportunities
title_short Nature Prescriptions for Health: A Review of Evidence and Research Opportunities
title_sort nature prescriptions for health: a review of evidence and research opportunities
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7344564/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32545651
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124213
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