A historical and critical analysis of park prescriptions

Abstract

Park Prescription (PP) is a grassroots movement encouraging physicians to “prescribe” parks to patients, promoting healthy parks and people. However, little is known specifically about PP’s ability to increase participant health outcomes. While some enthusiastically see PPs as a form of delivering a medical treatment, others question the lack of evidence to support writing a nonmedical prescription. A critical analysis of the PP movement’s history and related research is needed to not only drive its research agenda but also to assist in its desire to see parks and natural areas as an accepted and holistic part of the health care system. The authors believe an interdisciplinary discussion focusing on PP history, its collaborations, and setting a unified research agenda is necessary to moving forward the idea of PPs for parks and natural settings.