Prescribing Nature: How Healthcare Providers Are Encouraging Patients to Get Outside
Find a shady spot under a tree, take a breath of fresh air, and call me in the morning. This may sound like an unconventional prescription, but hundreds of healthcare providers are now issuing formal prescriptions to get outside. The tactic is gaining momentum as social media, political strife, and wars abroad weigh on the American psyche.
Of course, no one needs a prescription to get outside, but some doctors think that issuing the advice that way helps people take it seriously. Dr. Suzanne Hackenmiller, a Waterloo, Iowa, gynecologist, started issuing nature prescriptions after discovering time outdoors soothed her following her husband’s death. “When I bring it up, it is almost like granting permission to do something they may see as frivolous when things seem so otherwise serious and stressful,” she said.
The Science Behind Nature Prescriptions
Spending time in natural areas can lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, and boost immunity, multiple studies have found. “Study after study says we’re wired to be out in nature,” said Dr. Brent Bauer, director of the complementary and integrative medicine program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “That’s more than just ‘Woo-woo, I think nature is cool.’ There’s actually science.” The program focuses on practices that usually aren’t part of conventional medicine, such as meditation, acupuncture, massage, and nutrition.
Telling someone to go outside is one thing. The follow-through is something else. Starting about a decade ago, healthcare providers began formalizing suggestions to get outside through prescriptions. Dr. Robert Zarr, who doubles as a nature guide, launched an organization called Park Rx America around 2016, offering providers protocols for prescribing nature outings.
How Nature Prescriptions Work
Nearly 2,000 providers have registered with Park Rx America across the U.S. and a number of other countries, including Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, and Spain. They’ve issued more than 7,000 nature prescriptions since 2019, said Dr. Stacy Beller Stryer, Park Rx America’s associate medical director. About 100 other organizations similar to Park Rx America have sprung up around the U.S., she said. The guidelines call for talking with patients about what they like to do outside — walking, sitting under a tree, maybe just watching leaves fall — how often to do it, and where to go.
At William & Mary college in Williamsburg, Virginia, students issue nature prescriptions to their peers. “Patients” obtain prescriptions by filling out online applications indicating how far they’ll travel to get to a park, times they can visit, whether they need a ride, and favorite outdoor activities. Students issued an average of 22 online prescriptions per month in 2025, up from 12 per month in 2020.
Kelsey Wakiyama, a senior, grew up hiking trails around her home in Villanova, Pennsylvania, with her family and their dog, Duke. When she started her freshman year in Williamsburg, she didn’t know where to walk. She saw an advertisement for nature prescriptions in the weekly student email and eventually got one that helped her find trails near campus. “I love the greenery,” Wakiyama said. “When you’re sitting inside — I was in the library for four hours today — the fresh air feels very nice. It calms my nervous system, definitely. I associate being outside with a lightness, a calmness, good memories. That kind of comes back to me when I’m outside.”
The Effectiveness of Nature Prescriptions
The effectiveness of nature prescriptions is unclear. A 2020 joint study by the U.S. Forest Service, the University of Pennsylvania, and North Carolina State University concluded that more work was needed to gauge follow-through and long-term health outcomes. But unless you’re choking on wildfire smoke or swatting swarms of mosquitoes, getting outside — no matter what motivates you — can be helpful.
Read more about the benefits of nature prescriptions and how they’re being used to improve mental and physical health Here
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