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The emerging field of planetary health recognizes the interdependence of human health and the health of the natural world, and seeks to promote sustainable development and the protection of the environment to support the well-being of both. It emphasizes the need for global cooperation and action to address the complex challenges facing our planet today, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and the degradation of natural resources. Mladen Golubic, MD, PhD, medical director, and Barbara Walker, PhD, integrative health and performance psychologist, are members of the Osher Collaborative Planetary Health working group, a collaborative learning environment for Osher Collaborative members to serve the well-being of people and planet, including all life on Earth, by aligning integrative health education, research, clinical practices, and policy advocacy with planetary health.
View our Mindfulness in Nature Video Series.
Research has shown that spending time in nature offers numerous health benefits. Being surrounded by nature can help reduce anxiety, lower blood pressure, enhance immune system function, and boost self-esteem and mood. People living with chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes, cancer, depression, and anxiety, as well as those pre- and post-surgery, have been shown to have improved health outcomes when spending time in nature. Read more: UC News: The Healing Power of Nature
Why Nature as Medicine?
Humans are currently considered an indoor species. According to the US EPA, the average American now spends 93% of their time indoors and recent studies have found that people in the US spend as much as 10 hours and 39 minutes a day consuming media, which is much more time than the average person spends asleep. That wasn’t the case for most of human history. Throughout our evolution, humans lived in constant connection with the natural world—waking with the sun, sleeping with the dark, and syncing our bodies to the 24-hour cues of light and temperature. Our brains and bodies are wired for that rhythm, known as the circadian cycle, which governs everything from sleep to hormone levels. Simply put, we are biologically designed to be in Nature.
The Osher Center offers Nature Prescriptions for interested patients as well as ongoing Nature as Medicine resources and support. Receive personalized recommendations on how to integrate nature into your daily life for better well-being.
UC Health is the only health system in the area prescribing time in nature as a scientifically backed intervention to improve physical and mental health.
How to get a Nature Prescription:
Please join Dr. Barbara Walker, Director of the Nature as Medicine Program, for a monthly meetup to learn about the Nature as Medicine program, how to write your own personalized nature prescription that will work for you, evidence-based nature as medicine education and tips, and upcoming wellness events and classes that will help you meet your nature prescription goals.
When: the first Monday of each month from 1-1:30 p.m.Where: the Clifton Library (3400 Brookline Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45220) - meet in the lobby!Who: anyone interested in learning more about the Nature as Medicine Program
The meetup will immediately following the weekly Wellbeing Walk in Burnet Woods with the Clifton Library!
Join us once a week for a walk on a paved path through Burnet Woods. Together, we’ll take in beautiful views and fresh air! The first Monday of each month, the Osher Center will lead the walk and share more about the health benefits of walking and time in nature.
The Details:
The CHPL Bird Nerds and the Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati invite you to come discover whybirdwatching is the ideal activity to combine with the practice of mindfulness!What is Mindful Birdwatching? It’s birdwatching quietly, intentionally, and calmly while engaging with the natural world around you! Traditional bird watching is often associated with bird checklists, field guides, and carrying binoculars or cameras, which can all be fun, but we’re inviting you to come to enjoy a more meditative approach.
Through a new Parks & Rec for Wellness collaboration, the Osher Center, the Cincinnati Parks Foundation, and the Cincinnati Parks are on a mission to provide Cincinnatians with opportunities to harness the healing power of nature by providing innovative, evidence-based care and a deeper connection to our local natural world and the communities in which we live and work. The Parks for Wellness collaboration will provide health and wellness education as well as movement and mindfulness therapies in the parks, providing opportunities for social connection, and healing.
The program is designed to reduce barriers to healthcare by providing education and special programs within parks in prioritized neighborhoods. Thanks to grants provided by Cincinnati Parks Foundation and input from community members, free health and wellness classes and events within Cincinnati Parks will make park “prescriptions” available to everyone. These wellness programs will be tailored to each neighborhood and focused on local partners. Health care providers at the University of Cincinnati will be able to prescribe time in Cincinnati Parks, making it the first academic hospital to have nature prescribed as a modality.
Free Community Programs from the Cincinnati Parks Foundation
Donate Now to Support Parks for Wellness to Transform Healthcare in Cincinnati
The Campus Nature Rx (CNRx) network aims to bolster healthy campus communities through nature engagement. CNRx is a coalition of over 60 colleges and universities and over 100 professionals dedicated to supporting campus mental and physical health through teaching, research, and outreach.
Campus Nature Rx Resources:
Bearcats Pantry - Community Resource Garden is located at 5121 Fishwick Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45216
Utilize the Google map below to find greenspaces around the University of Cincinnati
Barbara Walker, Ph.D.
Integrative Health and Performance PsychologistAssociate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, College of MedicineAssociate Adjunct Professor Department of PsychologyClinical Director, Nature as Medicine ProgramsAffiliated Faculty, Osher Center for Integrative Health Diplomate, American College of Lifestyle Medicine
Dr. Walker currently serves as an Integrative Health and Performance Psychologist within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and UC Health, where she provides consultations to a wide variety of patients to facilitate their optimal effectiveness, whether for performance in sport or within their career, coping with illness or injury, and/or a desire to improve areas associated with lifestyle for overall health and well-being. She specializes in the use of biofeedback, mind-body techniques, high performance strategies, and lifestyle medicine as tools for teaching self-regulation. Barbara also teaches Sport and Positive Psychology as an associate adjunct professor in the Psychology Department, as well as Nature-Based Therapies and Ecopsychology, and co-teaches The Science and Practice of Mind-Body Medicine within the College of Medicine at the University of Cincinnati.
Dr. Walker earned her master’s degree in health psychology, her doctorate in clinical psychology with an emphasis in exercise and sport psychology and is a licensed clinical psychologist. Barbara has consulted with multiple professional and university athletic teams and individuals, Fortune 100 and 500 companies and their executives, physicians, and first responders. Barbara is a regular presenter at local and national professional conferences and workshops, has authored multiple chapters in professional texts, and is a regular contributor to national periodicals. She has appeared as a guest expert on multiple radio and television programs. She currently serves on the board of directors for the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Association of Applied Sport Psychology, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, as well as a member of the sport psychology registry with the United States Olympic Committee. Barbara demonstrates a lifelong passion for peak performance principles applying them in her own professional and personal life as a former competitive athlete in the sports of marathon, triathlon, duathlon, and cycling. She now mindfully trains for life- currently cycling, hiking, practicing yoga, organic gardening and spending time with family, friends, being outside as much as she can!
Mladen Golubic, MD, PhD, has worked in the fields of immunogenetics and molecular and cancer biology, contributing to the understanding of interactions between the environment and our genes. His clinical work focuses now on lifestyle-related chronic diseases.
As an internist, Dr. Golubic has practiced and directed educational and research activities within integrative and lifestyle medicine since 2009 with a group of exceptional lifestyle medicine professionals (dietitians, chefs, yoga instructors, exercise physiologists, meditation teachers, etc.) within the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic.
Outside of the health system, he enjoys time with his family and spending time outdoors.
Sian Cotton, PHD
Director, Osher Center for Integrative Health | Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, UC College of Medicine
Dr. Cotton is a licensed clinical psychologist and founding director of the UC Center for Integrative Health and Wellness and UC Health Integrative Medicine. A Professor in the Departments of Family and Community Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Cotton has an active research lab with ongoing clinical studies focusing primarily on mindfulness-based interventions and integrative medicine practice-based research. In 2007, Dr. Cotton was awarded a K23 career development award by the National Institutes of Health to examine the role of spiritual coping and health-related quality of life in adolescents with a chronic illness. A former Board member for the Academic Consortium of Integrative Medicine and Health, she is often invited to speak with community organizations and businesses, healthcare audiences, and academics about mind-body medicine for stress reduction, and preventive and wellness-based approaches to healthcare.
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