Nature prescribing: emerging insights about reconciliation-based and culturally inclusive approaches from a tricultural community health centre

Abstract

This commentary highlights the importance of social and nature prescribing programs reflecting culturally diverse perspectives and practices. Creating and holding space for Indigenous and other worldviews should be a key priority of nature prescribing, a relatively recent practice in Canada that recognizes and promotes health benefits associated with engaging in a variety of activities in natural settings. Central to designing and delivering nature prescribing that is culturally inclusive and grounded in fulfilling obligations of reconciliation is recognizing the ongoing dominance of Western worldviews and their associated implications for decolonizing and Indigenizing nature-based programming. Consciously working to expand Western values, with the aim of extending nature prescribing practices beyond mere nature exposure to fostering emotional connections to nature, is a critically important part of the ongoing development of nature-based interventions and nature prescribing.