Green Space and Health
Centre for Sustainable Healthcare
Description
This course offers an overview of the ways in which human health is inextricably linked to the health of the natural environment. This complex set of relationships is sometimes referred to as ‘planetary health’ and is increasingly recognised as a critical perspective in health creation. The course will summarise the international evidence base demonstrating the benefits of green space for physical and mental health and wellbeing, and describe how these benefits (and the impacts of environmental degradation) are unequally divided across our communities, exacerbating health inequalities. Access to green space is recognised as one of the determinants of health and ‘green’ prescriptions are increasingly being used by healthcare professionals to deliver health benefits for patients. This course explores the implications for healthcare and the design of clinical settings. Using real world examples we illustrate how you can integrate this approach into your own practice and maximise the potential of green space on your site.