Nature and Health: How Does Lifestyle and Environment Affect Health and Wellness

NCT06001697 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 72478
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 134
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to examine if and how implementing nature prescriptions can increase time in nature and improve health to yield an actionable understanding of the nature-health connection. It aims to explore how public green spaces can be better used to improve individual and community health. Finally, this study aims to advance science by conducting a randomized controlled trial to improve understanding of the linkages between time in nature and human health.

Conditions

Chronic Disease; Risk Reduction; Mental Health Wellness 1; Physical Inactivity; Sleep; Depression; Anxiety

Keywords

Nature; Park prescription; Mental health; Physical health; Chronic disease; Lifestyle

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Nature Exposure Scale II (NES-II)

  Assess each participant's exposure to nature in everyday life. The Nature Exposure Scale II uses a 5-point likert scale for each item. Higher score means greater exposure to nature. The total score is an average of all the items included.

  Baseline and 6-months

Secondary Outcomes (12)

• CDC Health related quality of life - 14 (CDC-HRQOL-14)

  Baseline and 6-months

• Brief-Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (B-PSQI)

  Baseline and 6-months

• Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10)

  Baseline and 6-months

• International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short form (IPAQ-S)

  Baseline and 6-months

• Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8/PHQ-A)

  Baseline and 6-months

Study Arms (2)

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

The treatment group will receive information regarding wellness factors by the doctor (health advice) and they will be asked to follow those recommendations for the duration of the study. In addition they will also receive a park prescription specifying a target amount of time to spend in nature, along with frequency of visits and recommended locations (e.g., specific parks), and information about parks and programming in the study area.

Behavioral: Park prescription; Behavioral: Regular health advice

Control

OTHER

The control group will receive regular health advice and information regarding wellness factors by the doctor and they will be asked to follow those recommendations for the duration of the study.

Behavioral: Regular health advice

Interventions

Park prescription BEHAVIORAL

The park prescription given by the patients care-provider includes information about the health benefits of spending time in nature and detailed information about the parks in the neighboring area. As well as access to a web-based platform called ParkRx which includes information and details about events in the parks in the study area. Together with information about the frequency and duration of visits to the parks.

Intervention

Regular health advice BEHAVIORAL

Regular health advice relating to lifestyle factors that can decrease the risk of chronic disease and/or reducing the burden of an existing chronic disease. Areas included are diet, physical activity, sleep, stress and medications.

Control; Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 13 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Participants must be a patient of the AHN Forbes Family Medicine clinic.
• Participants must have one or more chronic conditions, or significant lifestyle risks as identified by their healthcare provider.
• Participants must be between 13-65 years old.
• Participants must be willing and able to provide informed consent to participate
• Participants under 18 must be willing and able to assent for themselves and obtain parental consent.
• Participants must be willing to comply with all study procedures for the duration of the study.
• Participants must reside in the greater Pittsburgh area for the duration of 6-month study.
• Participants must have a smartphone that is capable of running the Urban Mind App and connecting to the Garmin wearable device (iPhone 6 and newer as well as most Android phones).
• Minors who participate must have their own smartphone.
• Participants must have their own email address to register with the Urban Mind App and the Garmin App.
• Only one participant from a household may enroll in the study.
• Participants must be able to comprehend written English (questionnaires will be provided to participants in English).
• Participants may not be an employee of Forbes Family Medicine clinic

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Stanford University: lead
• Allegheny Singer Research Institute (also known as Allegheny Health Network Research Institute): collaborator
• Richard King Mellon Foundation: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Forbes Family Medicine/AHN Research Institute

Monroeville, Pennsylvania, 15146, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Chronic Disease; Risk Reduction Behavior; Sedentary Behavior; Depression; Anxiety Disorders; Psychological Well-Being

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Disease Attributes; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Behavior; Behavioral Symptoms; Mental Disorders; Personal Satisfaction

Study Officials

• Gretchen Daily, PhD

  Stanford University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Model Details: In total a goal of 240 patients will be recruited and randomised in a 1:1 ration to either the intervention or control group. This means 120 of them will be assigned to the study group and 120 to the assigned to the control group. The intervention group will receive health advice and a park prescription by their health care provider while the control group will receive regular health advice regarding lifestyle.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 14, 2023
• First Posted: August 21, 2023
• Study Start: December 18, 2023
• Primary Completion: April 23, 2025
• Study Completion: April 23, 2025
• Last Updated: May 6, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)