government statistics<\/a>. <\/p>\n“The importance of open spaces cannot be underestimated,” said Sarah Davies, Natural England’s principal adviser for partnerships in Sussex and Kent. <\/p>\n
“Nature can relax us, educate us, and help reduce anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n
“We know there are countless benefits to connecting with nature – it makes us feel better, physically and mentally,” she continued. <\/p>\n
Relaxed and refreshed<\/p>\n
Natural England said healthcare staff reported feeling more relaxed and refreshed when outside – benefits it hoped could transfer into patient care. <\/p>\n
One senior nurse from the county, who took part in the training, said they “never realised the true impact outdoors can have on an individual and team level”.<\/p>\n
“[I] hope to see it being prescribed in the future as a treatment for certain health problems,” they continued. <\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1752661270_973_grey-placeholder.png\")
![\"Natural](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/659d06a0-622f-11f0-8bb8-6da7e50368a3.jpg.webp.webp\")
Natural England<\/p>\n
Nearly 40 NHS staff have done the training <\/p>\n
The course, which is spread over five months and carries a formal training accreditation, suits professionals who support children, young people and adults. <\/p>\n
This includes social and youth workers, therapists and those working in family support, Natural England said. <\/p>\n
Some 36 NHS staff in Sussex have done the course since 2023. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joshua Askew BBC News, South East Getty Images One nurse says they want nature to be prescribed as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[105,4348,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-280457","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114892348541187886","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3cf38570-6230-11f0-8bb8-6da7e50368a3.jpg.webp.webp\")
Getty Images<\/p>\n