Doctors Can Now Prescribe National Park Passes In Manitoba

Above, Lassen Peak. It would be nice to have national park passes prescribed here. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

When I first saw the name of the news source for the following story, SteinbachOnline.com, my immediate thought was, Has J. D. Lees (of G-FAN and G-FEST fame) taken a job in his town's news website? 

Reading on, the answer is no. But, when the story came to my attention, I thought it merited a mention here. Since there's been so much bad news coming out of Canada these days, it is nice to see something different.

Doctors in Manitoba, Canada can now prescribe national park passes. Interesting concept!

They begin with:

Thanks to a new program introduced to the province, residents of Manitoba, can now be issued ‘nature prescriptions’ from their healthcare providers. And local healthcare professionals are liking what they’re seeing.

The program is called PaRx, an initiative of the BC Parks Foundation and was recently introduced to Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and BC. A nature prescription could involve a patient being prescribed ‘2 hours in nature a week for 20 minutes each time.’

Doctors Manitoba has recently announced its endorsement of PaRx.

“As physicians, we recognize that spending time in nature can offer measurable benefits to patients’ physical and mental health,” said Dr. Kristjan Thompson, President of Doctors Manitoba. ​“The PaRx initiative will allow doctors to actually prescribe nature to their patients, while also removing barriers for patients to access a national park in Manitoba. It’s truly a win-win initiative.”

​“It is so exciting to see Doctors Manitoba endorse PaRx, because it has never been a more important time for folks to get outside. Not only is outside one of the safest places to be right now, but research also indicates that those who are more connected to nature are more likely to protect it,” says Anna Reed, a social worker, and Manitoba PaRx coordinator.

PaRx recently announced a new partnering agreement with Parks Canada. Licensed healthcare professionals registered in the PaRx program can now help reduce their patients’ barriers to nature access by prescribing an Adult Parks Canada Discovery Pass. They are asked to prioritize those who live close to national parks, national historic sites, or national marine conservation areas, and who could benefit from the pass the most. In Manitoba, this includes Riding Mountain National Park. Each physician can prescribe one park pass per month.

To read the full article, go here.