What is NBSP ? - Recetas

What is Nature Based Social Prescribing?

Social Prescribing is a non-medical person-centred referral pathway that connects people to community-based activities that support psychological, social, and behavioural health through active participation in everyday environments.

Nature-Based Social Prescribing (NBSP) activities may include outdoor physical activity (e.g., group hikes), nature-based observational activities (e.g., birdwatching), tactile related activities (e.g., community gardening, conservation projects), and arts and nature activities (e.g., nature sketching, collages, crafting).

Its flexible approach makes it applicable across a wide range of populations and health needs and can be straightforward such as signposted nature prescriptions for individuals, modified nature prescriptions supported by link-workers, to group-based multi-week interventions supported by trained facilitators.

Nature-based interventions are particularly valuable for people who face barriers to social participation or access to nature (including older adults, recent immigrants, young parents, and economically or linguistically isolated communities).

And emerging evidence shows that NBSP can reduce loneliness.

The Friends in Nature (FiN) model

The Friends in Nature (FiN) model tested and evaluated by the RECETAS Consortium provides an evidence-based model for understanding how and why nature-based social prescribing can reduce loneliness and support wellbeing. The model positions shared experiences in nature as the central mechanism through which social connections are formed and strengthened.

Rather than viewing nature exposure or social interaction separately, the FiN model emphasises their dynamic interaction. Participating together in nature-based activities creates low-pressure, inclusive settings that encourage repeated social contact, shared purpose, and mutual support. Over time, these experiences foster peer support, autonomy, meaningful relationships, a sense of belonging, and stronger social networks.

The Friends in Nature model highlights three interrelated processes:

Connection to others through shared, structured, and repeated nature-based activities.
Connection to nature through sensory engagement, restoration, and place-based tactile and emotional experiences.
Sustained wellbeing outcomes, including reduced loneliness, improved mental health and quality of life, reduced stress and anxiety, increased physical activity, and increased life satisfaction.

By embedding these processes within social prescribing pathways, the Friends in Nature model illustrates how NBSP can move beyond short-term interventions to create lasting social and health benefits at both individual and community levels, though the durability and trajectory of these effects can vary by context.

This variability underscores the importance of tailoring NBSP approaches to local needs and continuously collaborating to refine and optimize the model’s implementation across diverse settings.

Loneliness is a major challenge in urban communities

Loneliness is strongly linked to poorer mental and physical health, placing unnecessary pressure on individuals, communities, and healthcare systems. It is recognised globally as a serious public health concern, particularly among older adults. It shortens life expectancy and its effects are comparable to those of smoking or obesity.

Loneliness seen through a prevention and health promotion lens can be addressed through early interventions that address the root causes and reduce the pressures on our health systems and in our communities.

Loneliness is a sentinel condition, signaling imbalance in one’s connection to self, to others, and to the broader community, including our natural systems.
Could promoting nature-connection be an antidote to loneliness?
The evidence suggests yes!