When Herb Virgo spends time on the trails in Hartford’s Keney Park, he feels different. There’s a “heightened sense of wellbeing, a feeling of connectedness,” he said of spending time outside at the nearly 693-acre park in Hartford’s North End. “There are portions of the park that you can visit that completely make you feel […]
Prioritizing Nature Yale and New Haven are working together to increase opportunities and education around spending time in nature.
Spending time in nature has measurable benefits to people both emotionally and physically. That’s the driving tenet behind the work being done as part of what is currently called the “New Haven Nature & Health Initiative.” This working group represents a collaboration with Yale University, local healthcare professionals, and New Haven-based nonprofit organizations that understand the therapeutic benefits of spending time in nature. They are deeply invested in making green spaces in New Haven inviting, safe, and equally accessible for city residents.
Melanie Stengel
Schools were closed and online learning was in full swing last March when a teenager and her mom arrived at Fair Haven Community Health Care in New Haven.
The girl had been experiencing chest pains and her worried mother thought she should go to the emergency room, recalled Amanda DeCew, a Fair Haven clinic director and pediatric nurse.
The girl “was spending her entire day inside and had been inside for like two weeks,” DeCew said. “But the more we got into her symptoms, the more I really felt like this was anxiety and nothing that she needed to go the emergency room for.”
Nature deficit disorder : CT doctors are prescribing a walk in the park as therapy
Jenifer Frank, Conn. Health I-Team Writer
Feb. 22, 2021
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Walkers take advantage of a bright, clear day to stroll along a wooded trail in New Haven’s Edgewood Park. Scientists and medical providers are becoming increasingly impressed by how the simple act of spending time outdoors in a natural setting can lead to improved physical and mental health.Conn. Health I-TeamShow MoreShow Less
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Meghan Casey, left, a nursing and public health student at Yale, and Amanda E. DeCew, an advanced practice registered nurse in pediatrics at Fair Haven Community Health Care in New Haven, go for a lunchtime walk along Quinnipiac River Trail on Front Street. DeCew, also the clinic’s director for quality improvement and risk management, became interested in the benefits of nature therapy after hearing a podcast on the topic. She, and a few other colleagues, now prescribe outdoor ac