The Arboretum and Public Garden has partnered with Yolo Healthy Parks Healthy People to deliver on the shared mission of healing through nature.

Healthy Parks Healthy People is a program that promotes and facilitates the use of parks and other green spaces as a health resource. The movement started in Australia in 2010 and has since spread around the world. The Yolo chapter is a collaboration among Dignity Health, Cache Creek Conservancy, Putah Creek Council, Yolo Healthy Aging Alliance and several associate partners, like the Arboretum and Public Garden.

Nature heals 

The Arboretum and Public Garden has long recognized the health benefits of connecting people with nature. Nature Rx, an initiative spearheaded by Arboretum and Public Garden’s GATEways Horticulturist Stacey Parker, is a program designed to help people take advantage of those benefits.

“Being in nature for as little as 10 minutes per day has been shown to relieve stress and reduce mental fatigue,” Parker said. “Through our Nature Rx programs, we have developed resources and opportunities for students, staff, faculty, volunteers, families and others to nurture people’s connection with nature, and to enjoy the health and well-being benefits from activities such as potting succulents at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery or painting watercolor landscapes at Lake Spafford.”

The mutual goals and philosophy of Yolo Healthy Parks Healthy People made the partnership an exciting prospect for the Arboretum and Public Garden.

Fill your prescription right here!

One of the missions of Yolo Healthy Parks Healthy People is to work with local doctors through Parks Rx America to prescribe people nature. Through becoming an associate partner, the Arboretum and Public Garden will be added to the Parks Rx map, so participating physicians can send patients for a healthy dose of nature.

Encouraging people to connect with nature is particularly important now with the ongoing COVID pandemic.

“The pandemic has lad to a general increase in stress and fatigue,” Parker said, “not to mention a desire to get outdoors if you're working from home all day. We’ve seen a huge increase in the number of our visitors and they repeatedly tell us how critical the Arboretum and Public Garden is to our community’s health and well-being.”

Before getting your dose of the Arboretum and Public Garden visit the Planning Your Visit During COVID-19 webpage to find visitation and public health guidelines to keep yourself and your community safe and healthy.

Find more information on Yolo Healthy Parks Healthy People, including a full list of project partners, on the Cache Creek Conservancy website. You can also stay up to date with programs, resources and upcoming collaborations with the Arboretum and Public Garden by following their Facebook and Instagram pages.