Emerging Environments16 Aug 2021

#12 Prescribing a dose of nature with Melissa Lem

For episode #12, we speak with Dr. Melissa Lem, who is a family physician located in Vancouver, a clinical professor at the University of British Columbia and the president elect of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the environment. Melissa started her career as a physician in northern BC, and then moved to Toronto where she started to explore the scientific evidence that examines the link between human health and exposure to nature. Melissa is now leading a new initiative among Canada’s health care providers as the Director of the PaRx program, which encourages physicians to formally prescribe time in nature to their patients. This program has emerged from the overwhelming evidence of the many health benefits that humans get from nature. As you’ll hear us talk about with Melissa, time in nature affects both our physical and psychological well-being in many ways. And here, nature can be something like the deep forests of a provincial park or even something as simple as tending to your own garden.

With Melissa we unpack exactly what’s meant by a prescription for nature, where physicians can prescribe a dose of nature and encourage patients to seek a mindful connection with those spaces. We also talked about the connection between the PaRx program and Melissa’s work in the Canadian Association of Physicians for the environment, or CAPE for short, which is focused on the connections between human health and environmental sustainability. It was a pleasure to chat with Melissa about these initiatives, and hear about the evidence that shows how we can benefit from time in nature. Enjoy!

Melissa on Twitter: @Melissa_Lem

PaRx: https://www.parkprescriptions.ca/

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment: https://cape.ca/

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