As rates of chronic disease among children have skyrocketed over the past few decades, pediatricians have increasingly looked for solutions beyond the clinic. Sometimes that means actually prescribing time outside. Special correspondent Cat Wise reports from Oakland on the medical evidence that indicates escaping modern urban life, even temporarily, can yield health dividends.
This article is taken from PBS.org
A two-hour “dose” of nature a week significantly boosts health and wellbeing, research suggests, even if you simply sit and enjoy the peace.
The physical and mental health benefits of time spent in parks, woods or the beach are well known, but the new research is the first major study into how long is needed to produce the effect. If confirmed by future research, two hours in nature could join five a day of fruit and veg and 150 minutes of exercise a week as official health advice.
This article is taken from TheGuardian.com
We are fortunate to have hospitals – but they are not the most inspired places. They are stark and sterile, they have strict rules and not much soul. They may do wonders for corporeal concerns – but the more we learn about the importance of emotional well-being as it relates to good physical health, the more it seems that the hospital environment is lacking.
In Norway, however, they have taken this to heart and are exploring a workaround with young patients in mind – they have found a way to let nature help. The health benefits of spending time outside have been proven again and again, so why not let sick children have some time amongst the trees?
With this in mind, the country’s two largest hospitals, with the help of the Friluftssykehuset Foundationcharity, have created Outdoor Care Retreats known as friluftssykehuset. Built in partnership with the architectural firm, Snøhetta, the spaces offer patients a welcome reprieve from the stringent treatments and isolation that often accompany long-term hospitalization.
The term friluftssykehuset comes from the Norwegian concept of friluftsliv – the importance of spending time in nature – combined with the word fro hospital, sykehus. The first of the retreats is tucked into the lush forest near a creek, a short walk from from the entrance of Norway’s largest hospital, Oslo University Hospital. The sister building cozies up to a pond in the deciduous woodlands by Sørlandet Hospital Kristiansand in the South of Norway.
This article is taken from Treehugger.com