Children and Nature Initiative
NEEF’s Children and Nature Initiative addresses two important issues: preventing serious health conditions like obesity and diabetes and reconnecting children to nature. The program is designed to:
- Create “Nature Champions” by building capacity among pediatric healthcare providers to be leaders in prescribing nature
- Refer families to a park or nature center within economically, racially/ethnically, and culturally diverse communities
NEEF is holding a series of workshops to prepare pediatric healthcare providers to serve as Nature Champions in their communities. Building on NEEF’s highly successful Faculty Champions model, NEEF’s Nature Champion train-the-trainer workshops educate pediatric healthcare providers about prescribing outdoor activities to children. These Nature Champions, in turn, train 30 other local providers within 2 years.
Advisory Committee
An Advisory Committee of experts from major medical institutions and leaders in environmental education guides the Children and Nature Initiative. Members of the Advisory Committee include representatives from the American Academy of Pediatrics, Association of Clinicians for the Underserved, CDC, Children’s Environmental Health Network, National Association of School Nurses, National Audubon Society, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service.
Tools to Help Prescribe Exercise
NEEF has created the following tools to help healthcare providers prescribe exercise to improve health:
Patient brochure
Useful to patients looking to get active, this brochure recommends specific nature sites that serve as partners to “fill” the prescriptions. Staff at these parks accept and “fill” outdoor activity prescriptions. The nature center in turn offers the parent and/or child a membership card as well as other incentives and directs the individual to outdoor activities.
Fact Sheet
This fact sheet allows healthcare providers to highlight key peer-reviewed studies about the benefits of nature to children’s health.
Pediatric Environmental History Forms
The screening environmental history forms are designed to capture most of the common environmental exposures to children, containing questions such as “Does your child watch TV or use a computer or video game system for more than two hours a day?” and “How many times a week does your child have unstructured, free play outside for 60 minutes?” The screening history can be administered regularly during well-child exams as well as to assess whether environmental exposure plays a role in a child’s symptoms.
Patient Prescription Pads
Available both in English and Spanish versions, this prescription pad is designed to convey professionalism and authority, yet is colorfully “friendly” enough so parents will remember and keep the prescriptions handy. There is a box that clearly indicates scheduled outdoor play for weekdays and weekends, space to provide ideas for outdoor activities, and room for medical centers to personalize the prescription and brochure with their contact information.
Press Release
A press release provides knowledge to trusted professionals who, with their credibility, amplify messages about the initiative.
Children and Nature Training PowerPoint
Geared toward healthcare providers, this PowerPoint encourages medical practitioners to emphasize the importance of increased activity in the outdoor, natural environment.
Children’s Environmental Health Article
This article goes over a study conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the NEEF Children’s Environmental Health Faculty Champions Initiative. The program was evaluated using a workshop evaluation tool, action plan, pre- and post-tests, baseline and progress assessments, and telephone interviews.
Literature review article
Access the article “Using Nature and Outdoor Activity to Improve Children’s Health” published in the May 2010 issue of the Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care through the NEEF website.
Resources
- Patient Brochure, English (pdf)
- Patient Brochure, Spanish (pdf)
- Fact Sheet (pdf)
- Pediatric Environmental History Form, English (pdf)
- Pediatric Environmental History Form, Spanish (pdf)
- Patient Prescription Pads, English & Spanish (pdf)
- Press Release (doc)
- Children and Nature Training PowerPoint (ppt)
- Children’s Environmental Health Article (pdf)
- Health Benefits of Nature Article (pdf)
Tags: neef, park prescriptions