SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – One aspect of building a healthy life that many of us might miss in the hustle and bustle of modern life is connecting with nature. UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland is working to make sure that patients aren’t missing out on the health benefits of nature.
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“The Center for Nature and Health was founded in 2016, and our mission is to improve health and well-being of the world’s most vulnerable children through a connection with nature,” said UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals pediatrician Dr. Nooshin Razani, founder and director of the center, on the most recent episode of “As Prescribed” with KCBS Radio’s Alice Wertz.
Razani explained that even just 40 seconds of immersion in a natural environment can help people who live in urban settings develop better sustained attention, better working memory and better goal directed behavior. She also said it can help regulate ambient stress hormones.
Doctors and researchers at the Center for Nature and Health have created some of the first-ever validated protocols to enable physicians to integrate nature-based behavioral interventions into their practices. They also partner with the local park district on the Stay Healthy in Nature Everyday (SHINE) program, which connects children with chronic illness and their families with nature.
“What we do is translate the basic science coming out about nature and health into real, practical and creative solutions that integrate nature or conversations about nature into the current health care system,” Razani said. And that includes bringing nature into the clinical patient provider relationship. It also includes doing translational research and working in advocacy and system change towards a vision that really nature is of public health value and is something that everyone should have access to.”
While Razani and the center have found that getting into nature can benefit health, she said that families shouldn’t stress about getting outside. Instead, she wants them to realize they “have a right to access this community asset that really helps restore and provide rest and stress relief.”
Additionally, she said that getting into nature might be easier than people think.
“In this work, and working with many families from many different cultures, it’s really clear that there is not one way to interact with nature,” she said.
Listen to this week’s “As Prescribed” to learn more. You can also learn how having just one drink might trigger an a-fib episode here.
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