Developing and pilot testing a primary care-based toolkit to improve engagement with green health prescribing of older people living in deprived areas

在大多数情况下，开处方意味着从医生那里获得药物。作为医生和其他医护人员帮助所有年龄段的人改善健康和福祉的一种新方式，绿色健康处方在英国变得越来越受欢迎。绿色健康处方不是针对抑郁症或关节和肌肉疼痛等问题服用药片，而是将人们与他们喜欢的基于自然的户外活动联系起来，这对他们的身心健康都有好处。一些活动包括在林地散步、园艺、将人们联系在一起以帮助减少孤独的社会社区项目，以及露天艺术课等等。所有的活动都是基于个人的喜好和合适的。随着人们年龄的增长，发现活动更加困难，考虑更多的方法到户外享受新鲜空气尤其重要。然而，在创造改善健康的新方法时，往往没有考虑来自贫困地区的人，而且绿色健康处方并不容易为所有人所接受。这个项目将把许多人聚集在一起，包括专家、全科医生、患者和其他有兴趣扩大为老年人，特别是那些生活在经济困难地区的人开绿色健康处方的人。这一领域的研究表明，参与“基于自然”的活动对健康有很多好处，但包括全科医生在内的许多医护人员缺乏如何让人们参与此类活动的知识。因此，我们的总体目标是开发和测试一种易于使用的数字工具包，以帮助从事初级保健工作的医护人员将更多生活在贫困地区的老年患者转介到基于自然的活动中。为了做到这一点，我们将举办研讨会，并与涵盖各种不同观点的人交谈，以更好地了解开发工具包需要考虑哪些因素。我们将与患者和医护人员一起开发数字工具包，并监测该工具包在初级保健中的使用情况。我们将与那些被转介到“基于自然”活动的患者交谈，以了解他们的看法，并监测他们在被转介前后健康状况的任何变化。其目标是让全科医生更容易使用绿色健康处方，并从长远来看，让更多来自贫困地区的老年人体验到基于自然的活动所提供的健康益处。

Most of the time, prescribing means getting medication from a doctor. Green health prescribing is becoming more popular across the UK as a new way that doctors and other healthcare staff help people of all ages improve their health and wellbeing. Instead of giving tablets for problems like depression or joint and muscle pains, green health prescribing links people to 'nature-based' outdoor activities they like that will benefit both their physical and mental health. Some activities are walking in woodlands, gardening, social community projects that link people together to help reduce loneliness, and open-air art classes to name a few. All activities are based on the preferences and appropriate fit for the individual. Thinking about more ways to get outside and enjoy fresh air is especially important as people age and find it more difficult to be active. And yet, very often people from poorer areas are not considered when creating new ways to improve health and green health prescribing is not easily accessible to all. This project will bring many people together, including experts, GPs, patients, and others who are interested in expanding green health prescribing for older people and especially for those who live in economically challenged areas. Research in this field shows many health benefits of engaging in 'nature-based' activities yet many healthcare workers, including GPs, lack knowledge of how to refer people to such activities. Therefore, our overall aim is to develop and test an easy to use, digital toolkit to help healthcare staff working in primary care to refer more older patients living in deprived areas to 'nature-based' activities. To do this we will hold workshops and talk with people covering a wide variety of perspectives to better understand what needs to be considered to develop the toolkit. We will develop the digital toolkit together with patients and healthcare workers and monitor the use of the toolkit in primary care. We will talk to patients who are referred to 'nature-based' activities to understand their views and monitor any changes in their health before and after they are referred. The goal is to make it easier for general practice staff to use green health prescribing and in the longer term to allow more older people from deprived areas to experience the health benefits that 'nature-based' activities provide.