find outdoors Doctors Prescribe Patients beneficial in treatment a Walk in the Park of ailments
By Stacy M. Brown WI Contributing Writer
The next time a patient visits a doctor at Unity Health Care, they might be surprised at what doctors are prescribing. Increasingly, doctors at Unity, which has several locations around the District, are taking out their prescription pad and writing: “Take two nature walks and call me tomorrow.” “In many cities across the country, doctors are prescribing outside time in one of our country’s most treasured resources, parks,” said Dr. Robert Zarr, a pediatrician at Unity’s Upper Cardozo location in Northwest. “Here in D.C., we’ve rated our region’s parks and launched a tool that any doctor can use in their office to locate quality and safe outside space near the patient’s home,” said Zarr, president of the D.C. chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. On July 1, 2013, Zarr helped to launch, D.C. Park Rx, a
community health initiative of health providers and several organizations, including the National Park Service and the D.C. Department of Health. The program’s concept links the healthcare system and local parks, to create healthier people. Immediate goals include prescribing nature to patients and families to encourage outside time in one of the 350 green spaces and parks around the District. Patients with such illnesses and ailments as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, sleep apnea or even low self-esteem are being prescribed a walk in the park. “The long-term goal is to decrease the impact of non-communicable chronic disease like obesity, asthma, and mental health disorders and create the next generation of environmental stewards,” Zarr said. Already, an estimated 500 patients have received the prescription to walk in the park and the feedback has only been positive, he said.
“My son is 11, and I look at his weight and see danger if nothing productive is done,” said Tanisha, a Southeast resident who declined to provide her last name to prevent her son from potential bullying. Tanisha, 31, said diabetes runs in her family and if her young child isn’t active, he’s sure to experience challenges. “This helps to get him away from the computer and the video games,” she said. “It also helps me because I go out with him and walk in the park and exercise, too.” Zarr said plenty of research goes into the park program and there are various factors when prescribing the treatment to patients. “It’s much like prescribing medication. I have to make the right diagnosis and then I have to consider all the possible treatment options, taking into account risk benefit, cost, complexity of treatment, social context of the patient, and the environmental impact,” Zarr said.
“Before I prescribe a park, I need to know if what I am prescribing is safe, clean, accessible, and has lots of different activity options that best match the interest of the patient, family and their schedule,” he said, noting that with the help of program partners and volunteers, all of the green space in D.C. has carefully been mapped out and rated in several categories including cleanliness. More than 601,000 people live in the District and chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are among the top causes of death locally. About 56 percent of District residents reported that they were overweight and 22.2 percent counted as obese. A recent survey conducted by the National Park Service Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program in Northwest, found that the outdoors were important for the physical well-being of residents. Particularly, the study noted that outdoor activity could help curb some chronic diseases. The report showed that parks, trails, and open space continue to be a real asset to all residents and they provide formal and informal gathering places for individuals to be physically active, socialize, relax, and build community. “The District is graced with more green space per person than any other U.S. city of the
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same size,” said Richard Levinson, deputy director of Policy and Programs at the District of Columbia Department of Health in Northwest. “These spaces have the ability to not only improve people’s health, but the health of a community,” Levinson said. Also, the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services’ Department of Exercise Science plans to host author Richard Louv at its Foggy Bottom campus on Thursday, March 20, to discuss the importance of outdoor activity. Louv, whose written eight books about the connections between family, nature and community, plans to discuss the role of health care providers in prescribing nature to prevent and treat chronic disease at the free admission event which begins at 6:30 p.m. “The overlaying theme of what the prescription program is is that we’ve got a unique population that is suffering from a lot of issues with chronic disease, both children and adults,” he said. “We have a lot of reasons to do this, and on top of that, we have a massive amount of green space in the District, which from what we understand, is underutilized.”HS