Prescribing Outdoor Activity and Nature Exposure in Health
Modern healthcare often focuses on medications, laboratory testing, procedures, and treatment of disease. These tools are essential, but some of the most powerful influences on our health happen outside the walls of a medical office.
One of them may be as simple as spending more time outdoors.
A growing body of research suggests that exposure to natural environments—including parks, walking trails, gardens, trees, and other green spaces—may support physical activity, reduce stress, improve mental well-being, and contribute to better overall health. This has led to growing interest in nature prescriptions, sometimes called park prescriptions, in which healthcare professionals intentionally encourage patients to spend time outdoors as part of a broader health plan.
For residents of the Coachella Valley, where sunshine, mountains, desert landscapes, walking paths, and outdoor recreation are part of the environment, nature can become another tool for promoting healthier lifestyles.
At WellHealthe, our approach to direct primary care and Lifestyle Medicine emphasizes the behaviors and environments that influence health every day. Outdoor activity provides a particularly interesting opportunity because it can touch several of the Six Pillars of Health at the same time.
What Is a Nature Prescription?
A nature prescription is a recommendation from a healthcare professional encouraging a patient to intentionally spend time outdoors or in natural environments.
It does not necessarily mean hiking a mountain or completing an intense workout.
A prescription might be as simple as:
“Walk outside for 20 minutes after dinner three days this week.”
“Spend 15 minutes in your garden each morning.”
“Meet a friend for a walk in the park twice this week.”
The idea is to move beyond simply telling someone to “exercise more” and instead create a realistic behavior that can become part of everyday life.
Research evaluating nature-prescription programs suggests that these interventions can increase physical activity and may improve measures such as blood pressure, while also supporting mental health and well-being.[1]
Nature Encourages Movement
One of the most obvious benefits of going outside is that it often gets us moving.
Walking through a neighborhood, gardening, hiking, cycling, playing with children, or simply exploring a local park can all contribute to daily physical activity.
Regular physical activity is one of the most powerful tools available for disease prevention and chronic disease management. It is associated with lower risks of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, several cancers, functional decline, and premature mortality.[2]
The problem is that many people find traditional exercise difficult to maintain.
A treadmill may feel like work. A walk through a park may feel like recreation.
That difference matters.
The best exercise program is not simply the one that looks impressive on paper. It is one that a person can perform safely, enjoy, and continue over time.
Outdoor activity can therefore turn exercise from another obligation into an experience.
Nature May Help Reduce Stress
Outdoor activity may provide benefits beyond exercise itself.
Natural environments have been associated with improved psychological well-being, and research suggests that greater exposure to green spaces is associated with several favorable health outcomes.[3]
This is especially relevant in a world where much of our day is spent surrounded by screens, traffic, notifications, work demands, and constant stimulation.
Spending time outdoors can create an opportunity to temporarily disconnect from some of those stressors.
A quiet walk can become a form of active stress management.
Sitting outside with a cup of coffee can become a few minutes of reflection.
Gardening can combine movement, attention, and purpose.
From a Lifestyle Medicine perspective, these activities may support both the physical activity and stress-management pillars simultaneously.
Outdoor Activity and the Six Pillars of Health
One reason nature exposure is so interesting is that it does not fit neatly into only one Lifestyle Medicine category.
Consider a simple activity: walking outside with a friend.
You are engaging in physical activity.
You are strengthening social connection.
You may be reducing stress.
If the walk replaces sedentary screen time in the evening, it may help establish healthier routines that support restorative sleep.
A weekend hike may encourage someone to drink more water, prepare healthier meals, and spend less time around alcohol or other unhealthy habits.
One behavior can influence several areas of health at once.
This illustrates an important principle of the Six Pillars of Health: healthy behaviors often reinforce one another.
Can Nature Exposure Improve Health?
Research on green-space exposure has found associations with a range of health outcomes.
A large systematic review and meta-analysis published in Environmental Research found that greater exposure to green space was associated with several favorable outcomes, including lower salivary cortisol, lower heart rate, lower diastolic blood pressure, and reduced risks of certain chronic health conditions.[3]
Another study involving nearly 20,000 people found that individuals reporting at least 120 minutes of recreational nature contact per week were more likely to report good health and high well-being than those reporting no nature contact.[4]
That does not mean everyone needs exactly 120 minutes or that nature exposure should be treated like a medication with a precise dose.
Instead, it provides a useful concept: regular contact with nature may be another health-promoting behavior worth intentionally building into our lives.
Importantly, nature exposure should complement—not replace—appropriate medical care, medications, preventive screening, or treatment of chronic disease.
Making the Prescription Specific
Simply telling a patient to “spend more time outside” may not produce much change.
Lifestyle Medicine works best when recommendations become actionable.
Instead of:
“Exercise more.”
Consider:
“Walk outside for 20 minutes before breakfast on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.”
Instead of:
“Reduce stress.”
Consider:
“Sit outside without your phone for 10 minutes after work each day.”
This is where SMART goals can help.
A goal should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
A nature prescription might therefore look like:
For the next two weeks, I will walk outdoors for 20 minutes at least four mornings each week.
At the next primary care visit, the patient and healthcare professional can discuss what worked, identify barriers, and adjust the goal.
This transforms general health advice into a behavior that can actually be practiced.
Nature in the Coachella Valley
Living in the Coachella Valley gives us access to a unique natural environment.
Walking paths, community parks, golf courses, desert landscapes, mountain views, gardens, and nearby hiking areas provide many opportunities to spend time outside.
But our desert climate also requires some common sense.
During hotter months, outdoor activity may be safer in the early morning or evening, depending on weather conditions and individual health. Hydration, sun protection, appropriate clothing, and awareness of heat-related illness are important.
On extremely hot days, outdoor exercise may not be appropriate at all, particularly for people who are older, medically vulnerable, taking certain medications, or unaccustomed to exercising in the heat.
Nature prescriptions should therefore be individualized just like other health recommendations.
Sometimes the healthiest outdoor prescription in the desert is not “exercise harder.”
It is choose the right time, the right activity, and the right environment.
Bringing Nature Into Direct Primary Care
The direct primary care model creates an opportunity to think beyond treating illness after it develops.
During a longer primary care conversation, a healthcare professional can ask questions such as:
How much time do you spend outdoors?
Do you enjoy walking?
Are there parks or walking paths near your home?
Could you exercise with your spouse, friend, or neighbor?
What prevents you from getting outside more often?
These questions help transform outdoor activity from generic advice into an individualized health strategy.
For someone with hypertension, the goal might be regular walking.
For someone struggling with stress, it might be quiet outdoor time without electronic devices.
For an older adult, it might involve safely maintaining mobility and social connection through morning walks with friends.
The prescription depends on the person.
Sometimes the Best Medicine Starts Outside
Healthcare will always need medications, diagnostic testing, specialists, and medical treatment.
But health is also created through the choices we make repeatedly between medical visits.
Moving our bodies.
Sleeping well.
Managing stress.
Building relationships.
Eating nourishing foods.
Avoiding harmful substances.
And perhaps spending a little more time outside.
At WellHealthe, we believe direct primary care and Lifestyle Medicine should help patients translate these principles into practical behaviors that fit their lives.
For people throughout the Coachella Valley, prescribing outdoor activity and nature exposure may be one simple way to support the Six Pillars of Health, disease prevention, chronic disease management, and healthy aging.
Sometimes improving health does not require another complicated intervention.
Sometimes it begins by opening the door and going outside.
References
Nguyen PY, Astell-Burt T, Rahimi-Ardabili H, Feng X. Effect of nature prescriptions on cardiometabolic and mental health, and physical activity: a systematic review. The Lancet Planetary Health. 2023;7(4):e313-e328.
World Health Organization. WHO Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020.
Twohig-Bennett C, Jones A. The health benefits of the great outdoors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of greenspace exposure and health outcomes. Environmental Research. 2018;166:628-637.
White MP, Alcock I, Grellier J, et al. Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Scientific Reports. 2019;9:7730.
Jimenez MP, DeVille NV, Elliott EG, et al. Associations between nature exposure and health: a review of the evidence. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021;18(9):4790.
American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Lifestyle Medicine and the Six Pillars of Health. American College of Lifestyle Medicine.