Psychological problems more often treated by practice nurses | ANP
Nature must play a much more important role in mental health care. Greenery is good for mental health and can save a lot of healthcare costs. That is why it is high time that the treatment room moved outside. Fortunately, today during the online meeting ‘Green GGZ’ of IVN Nature Education, Nature For Health and Green Mental Health, it became clear that there is a lot of interest in this among mental health institutions.
Nature can save costs
According to the platform ‘This is how healthcare works’, more than 5.5 billion was spent on specialist mental health care in 2019; caring for more than half a million people with complex psychological problems. We think nature can save costs. There are more than 70,000 studies on the shelf that indicate how well nature works for health. However, this resource is hardly used yet.
Mental health care institutions have traditionally been located on large green areas, but practitioners rarely go outside with their patients. That is a shame, because nature offers peace of mind; works well against stress, ADD, overwork, aggression problems and so on. It is therefore important that the treatment is moved outside if possible. It is not always easy, but if it succeeds, the profit is great, both for the client and for the practitioner.
Together with the neighborhood
It is also good to invite the neighborhood more actively to the areas of mental health institutions, so that clients can, for example, maintain a vegetable garden together with local residents. By working together with the neighborhood, there is often more understanding for people who are struggling with psychological problems and both the local residents and clients benefit from being more outdoors in nature.
Fortunately, our proposal ‘Green GGZ’, which also includes researcher Jolanda Maas of the Free University (VU), can count on a lot of enthusiasm. The project, in which ten ‘green forerunners’ will participate, will be launched at the end of September at the ‘Nature and Mental Health 2021’ conference.
This is an expert quote from Renske Visscher of IVN Nature Education, within the framework of ANP Expert Support. Renske Visscher is regional director of IVN Nature Education and portfolio holder Nature and Health.
Bron: ANP Expert Support
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