I'm feeling a bit lonely.
You think summer camp can help?
You're not alone in feeling this way.
More and more kids we see are actually struggling
with their mental wellbeing and with loneliness.
In fact, one in five kids in Canada present
with mental health concerns
and only about 25% of them get the help that they need.
Mental health professionals like me are struggling
to address the rising rates in mental health
concerns in children and youth.
That's why we need to come up with an innovative solution
and that innovative solution is social prescribing.
Social prescribing is when a trusted individual in a
clinical or community setting
recognizes a need in an individual
that doesn't require a medical prescription,
but rather requires a prescription that's social in nature.
This can be something like connecting
with other individuals, being part of an activity
or taking part in something that makes people feel good.
As a psychologist
and researcher, we know that nature can be so beneficial
for children and youth, and
so I was really interested in understanding the green part
of social prescribing.
What if kids went to a summer camp
where they were actually in nature?
And would this help? So in partnership
with the CHEO Research Institute, the University
of Ottawa, Out to Play
and the Canadian Museum of Nature,
we were interested in understanding if kids went
to a summer camp that was immersive
and in nature, would this have positive impacts
for their wellbeing and social connectedness?
As part of this study, we invited 32 kids to come
to the Museum of Nature in Gatineau, Quebec,
to experience this immersive summer camp.
And we evaluated this by looking at pre-
and post questionnaires,
and we also had them tell us a little bit about their
experiences through interviews.
We discovered that participating in the summer camp
increased kids' wellbeing and social connectedness.
And in their own words, they told us that they were able
to make friends, felt more social,
and they even learned a little something about nature.
Green social prescribing is still very much in the beginning
phases, and we need more research
and data that involves more people to be able
to further show these results.
So if you're a parent trying to decide what kind
of camp your kid should attend this summer, let's say
that inserting a little bit of nature
or some green social prescribing of your own may be
of benefit.