SPACE
Social Prescribing and Civic Engagement
Social Prescribing Through Volunteering
As part of Social Prescribing schemes, volunteering is becoming recognised as an efficient and an increasingly popular way of addressing inclusion and diversity by reducing health inequalities and well-being concerns through higher rates of civic engagement and physical activity.
Research proves that volunteering has a positive impact on inclusion and diversity as well as on mental and physical health leading to reduced inequalities. When the social prescribing involves physical activity support from volunteers in an urban/community garden it is particularly beneficial for patients with physical health issues such as people recovering from cancer.
Furthermore, people who are referred to voluntary organisations to improve their health and wellbeing, when their issues are resolved, frequently become volunteers themselves to help other people facing similar issues as they did, therefore increasing further civic engagement more broadly.
Volunteering is currently not the most often-employed activity within the Social Prescribing framework, and the outcomes from the SPACE project intend to contribute to the argument to increase provision of social prescription, as well as the practical capacity through volunteering for the stakeholders concerned.
10 Benefits of green social prescribing
Below are 10 + proven health benefits of green social prescribing, such as volunteering in community gardens, prepared by project partner HMVCG:
1. It is an effective form of stress relief - it boosts the production of serotonin and dopamine - two chemicals that have a big impact on mood.
2. It can give your immune system a boost too - spending time outdoors and being exposed to the sun is a great way to increase your levels of vitamin D, crucial for the regular functioning of your immune system. And not only will you absorb more vitamin D, but experts also believe that there is a friendly bacteria in soil, Mycobacterium Vaccae, which you unknowingly inhale when rooting around in the garden. This is believed to have a number of positive effects on your immune system. Sunlight also lowers blood pressure as well as increasing vitamin D levels.
3. It improves your physical strength - the best bit about exercising in the garden is that it doesn’t feel like exercise, you can strengthen your muscles while in a peaceful state of mind. All that digging, raking, weeding, cutting back hedges and planting is great for your muscles. Your hands, arms, back, shoulders, legs and core will all benefit.
4. It can reduce your chances of a heart attack or stroke - A moderate session in the garden offers the same benefits as a light cardiovascular workout.
5. It is effective in treating depression, anxiety and other mental health illnesses - Horticultural therapy is a fast growing field (excuse the pun). It focuses on the therapeutic and mental health benefits that gardening can bring and has been known to help in cases of depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and other mental health illnesses too.
6. Improves recovery from operations - in a pioneering randomised study by the environmental psychologist Roger Ulrich, views of plants and trees from post-operative wards improved the mood of patients, and reduced analgesic use, surgical complications and length of stay. Similar beneficial results have been found for patients undergoing dental treatment, and viewing natural scenes together with natural sounds improved the experience of bronchoscopy.
Even randomly exposing post operative patients to pictures of countryside on the walls of their rooms can reduce pain and anxiety, while, perhaps not surprising to everyone, abstract images increased anxiety.
7. It encourages you to eat your 5 a day - A study among children has shown that they were 5 times more likely to eat fruit & vegetables if they had grown it themselves.
8. It helps you lose weight - Research in America has shown that people who regularly participate in gardening have a lower body mass index and lower odds of being overweight, than non-gardeners.
9. It stimulates the brain - there is growing evidence which backs up the idea that gardening trains the brain. One thorough study which followed over 3000 adults for a period of 16 years, showed that daily gardening can reduce the risk of dementia in the future by as much as 36%.
10.It can improve your social wellbeing- it creates new social networks and renews them.
And it is great for the environment too, because when people engage in nature it fosters pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours, which contribute to environmental sustainability!