Parks as Nature Therapy: The Wellness Opportunities in Parks and Open Spaces

Session Description: How great would it be if the first step to healthcare treatment was a prescription to spend time in nature? That’s what Peter Mayfield, of Gateway Mountain Center, and Greg Melton, of Melton Design Group/Park Collab, are working to make reality. Incorporating wellness assessment and therapeutic design elements into parks offers natural mental health therapies in our own local parks. Mayfield and Melton’s approach revolves around working with health professionals, community leaders, parks and recreation departments and other experts to create effective, research-backed, therapies for communities to make health and wellness a priority in their parks and outdoor spaces.
Physical and mental health concerns have long been on the top of mind for public health professionals. Educators and parents have seen child development gaps since kids spend less time outdoors - coined “Nature Deficit Disorder” by Richard Louv. This year Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy labeled social connection as another major public health issue. Healing time in nature can be a powerful tool in addressing physical and mental health issues, social connection and children’s development. It is time to rethink how parks are built, programmed, maintained, used and envisioned. Let’s all work together to change our parks’ impact and role in healing our communities.
This session will break down all the elements, therapies and challenges to creating a nature-based healing environment in parks. Participants will receive a “mini” nature therapy experience and walk away with new tools to create such opportunities in their own parks and communities. This experience is rooted in nature and supported by science.