Green Social Prescribing
Aims: Advancing equity, investigating racial and ethnic disparities within nature based interventions. Providing evidence based guidance for commissioners and policy makers surrounding green social prescribing.
About: Green social prescribing links people to a range of nature-based activities; green exercise, local walking schemes, community gardening, food-growing projects and outdoor arts activities. There is evidence to suggest nature-based activities are good for people's health and wellbeing. People who access these activities eat more fruit and vegetables, have a healthier weight and have improved mental health and quality of life. Research suggests that people living in the poorest areas have less access to outdoor green space but when they are able to access good quality outdoor green space the benefits to their mental health are greater than those people from wealthier areas. Non-white ethnic minorities are more likely to live in the poorest areas and are more likely to experience poorer mental health. Ethnic minority groups are less likely to be referred to green social prescribing, therefore access less nature-based activities. They may be further disadvantaged due to lack of transport, safety concerns and fears of discrimination and racism. There may be further barriers due to lack of understanding of cultural or religious needs when designing activities. In order to encourage referrals and engagement from minority ethnic groups, green social prescribing programmes need to be designed with these communities to encourage equal access.
Delivery: Research was carried out between February and December 2023, across three separate cohorts. Semi-structured interviews with participants purposefully sampled from i) diverse ethnic groups (n=10), ii) Faith leaders/community organisations (n=10), iii) social prescribers (n=5). iv) GP's/healthcare professionals (n=5), v) commissioners/policy makers (n=5).
Outputs: Manuscript submitted to BMC Primary Care journal. Two short films with providers and participants of NBI’s https://youtu.be/G2PQ7yFlR-k
Initiative: NIHR Policy Research Programme to Identify, examine and make recommendations to commissioners on what data is typically collected and what needs to be collected for more effective evaluation of outcomes amongst minority ethnic groups within NBIs.