Green social prescribing can significantly reduce people's anxiety and improve their happiness and life satisfaction, according to the findings from a landmark, two-year cross-government study published today.
The evaluation of the Green Social Prescribing Programme to Tackle and Prevent Mental Ill Health demonstrates that helping people to engage in nature-based activities - including horticulture, conservation work or nature-based exercise groups - can improve mental health. The programme has been extended until April 2025.
In 2021, the Government launched the £5.7m two-year Green Social Prescribing programme, funded by Treasury and core partners. This innovative programme, one of the first of its kind in the world, aimed to assess the impact of green social prescribing on people’s mental health, tackle health inequalities by reaching people living in deprived communities and deliver value to the health system. During the study, more than 8,300 people with mental health needs were supported to access nature-based activities, and now more are set to benefit.
This is a breakthrough report for social prescribing, specifically green social prescribing. The results exceeded our expectations, demonstrating how green social prescribing can significantly improve people’s mental health outcomes, help reduce health inequalities and moderate demand on the health and social care system. Given the quality of evidence and positive impacts from this work, our hope is for programmes of this type to be rolled out across all local health systems in the coming years
Participants’ wellbeing was measured before and after participation in nature-based activities using Office of National Statistics (ONS4) measures, with statistically significant improvements:
- Happiness increased from an average of 5.3 out of 10 to 7.5, above the national average of 7.4.
- Life satisfaction increased from an average of 4.7 out of 10 to 6.8 (national average 7.5).
- Feeling that life is worthwhile increased from an average of 5.1 out of 10 to 6.8 (national average 7.7).
- Levels of anxiety reduced from an average of 4.8 out of 10 to 3.4 (national average 3.2).
- The economic value of improvements to individual life satisfaction were estimated to be £2.42 for every £1 invested by central Government, and a total value of £14.0 million.
The programme was targeted to support people who were most in need. More than 50% of participants were from the most socio-economically deprived areas, and 21% of participants were from ethnic minority populations.
The programme has been extended until 31st March 2025, with further funding being provided by the Government's Shared Outcomes Fund and partner organisations. The extension of the programme will be used to gather evidence and explore methods to help spread and embed the programme at a national scale.
The first phase of the programme was supported by the Treasury Shared Outcomes Fund with additional funds from NHS England, Sport England National Lottery funding and National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP). It was managed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) with support from Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), Natural England, Sport England and NASP. The test and learn site delivery was project managed by NHS England.
