Planetary Health & Nature as Medicine

The emerging field of planetary health recognizes the interdependence of human health and the health of the natural world, and seeks to promote sustainable development and the protection of the environment to support the well-being of both. It emphasizes the need for global cooperation and action to address the complex challenges facing our planet today, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and the degradation of natural resources. Mladen Golubic, MD, PhD, medical director, and Barbara Walker, PhD, integrative health and performance psychologist, are members of the Osher Collaborative Planetary Health working group, a collaborative learning environment for Osher Collaborative members to serve the well-being of people and planet, including all life on Earth, by aligning integrative health education, research, clinical practices, and policy advocacy with planetary health.

Nature as Medicine

Research has shown that spending time in nature offers numerous health benefits. Being surrounded by nature can help reduce anxiety, lower blood pressure, enhance immune system function, and boost self-esteem and mood. People living with chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes, cancer, depression, and anxiety, as well as those pre- and post-surgery, have been shown to have improved health outcomes when spending time in nature. Read more: UC News: The Healing Power of Nature

Why Nature as Medicine?

Humans are currently considered an indoor species. According to the US EPA, the average American now spends 93% of their time indoors and recent studies have found that people in the US spend as much as 10 hours and 39 minutes a day consuming media, which is much more time than the average person spends asleep. That wasn’t the case for most of human history. Throughout our evolution, humans lived in constant connection with the natural world—waking with the sun, sleeping with the dark, and syncing our bodies to the 24-hour cues of light and temperature. Our brains and bodies are wired for that rhythm, known as the circadian cycle, which governs everything from sleep to hormone levels. Simply put, we are biologically designed to be in Nature.

Nature as Medicine at the Osher Center for Integrative Health

The Osher Center offers Nature Prescriptions for interested patients as well as ongoing Nature as Medicine resources and support. Receive personalized recommendations on how to integrate nature into your daily life for better well-being.

UC Health is the only health system in the area prescribing time in nature as a scientifically backed intervention to improve physical and mental health.

How to get a Nature Prescription:

• Tell your UC Health provider that you are interested in a Nature Prescription
• Self-refer by calling 513-475-9567 (ask for Dava) or email us at osher.integrative@uc.edu or Join our Nature as Medicine email list for the latest program updates, events, and opportunities!

Nature as Medicine Events, Classes, and Opportunities (No-Cost)

• Nature as Medicine Monthly Meetup: The first Monday of each month from 1-1:30 p.m. Barbara Walker, PhD, Director of the Nature as Medicine Program at the Clifton Library will guide patients in writing their nature prescriptions and discuss upcoming opportunities.
• Well-being Walks in Burnet Woods in Partnership with the Clifton Library: Weekly on Mondays from 12:15-12:45 p.m. a walking club will leave from the Clifton Library and walk through Burnet Woods. The first Monday of each month, experts from the Osher Center for Integrative Health at the University of Cincinnati will lead a special Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing) experience during the walk.
• Parks & Rec for Wellness Classes: From yoga, roller skating, dancing and more, Cincinnati Parks & Rec for wellness is thrilled to offer a series of outdoor classes designed to help you move your body, boost your mood, and connect with your community. All are welcome—just show up and feel better in our parks! 
• Cincinnati Parks Foundation Weekend Hiking Series: every Saturday from May through October, join us for a free hiking group at parks across Cincinnati! The Osher Center will lead hikes the third Saturday of each month! View the Cincinnati Parks Foundation Events webpage for the full schedule.
• • Saturday, May 17, 2025, at 10 a.m. at Burnet Woods
  • Saturday, June 21, 2025, at 10 a.m. at Mt. Airy Forest (Treehouse)
  • Saturday, July 19, 2025, at 10 a.m. at Ault Park (Flagpole)
  • Saturday, August 16, 2025, at 10 a.m. at Mt. Airy Forest (Treehouse)
  • Saturday, September 20, 2025, at 10 a.m. at Ault Park (Flagpole)
  • Saturday, October 18, 2025, at 10 a.m. at Mt Airy Forest (Treehouse)

• Mindful Bird Watching with the Cincinnati Library at the Civic Garden Center: Third Saturdays, May-September from 9-11 a.m. come discover why birdwatching is the ideal activity to combine with the practice of mindfulness
• Community Yoga at Burnet Woods: Every Saturday from 11–11:45 am, all levels are welcome! Burnet Woods yoga is year-round, May 1-Oct 14 at the bandstand and Oct 15 – April 30 at Trailside Nature Center.
• Smale Mind & Body Yoga Classes at the Schmidlapp Event Lawn (Outside of Moerlein Lager House):  Wednesdays from 6-7 p.m. from June through September.

• Roller Skating at Sawyer Point: Outdoor roller skating returns to the Riverfront Rink at Sawyer Point on June 1 and continues through October with a series of free outdoor roller skating events with music and more in Cincinnati's only outdoor rink. New, no-cost programming will also be offered at the rink this year:
  • Kids Dance (ages 10 & under) facilitated by Intuitive Roots Dance Theatre with Sarah Spurling - Saturdays from 2-3 p.m.
  • Roller Skating lessons (all ages)  facilitated by Skate Downtown Cincy with Dylan Morton and David Chambers - Sundays at 2 p.m.
  • Yoga (all ages) facilitated by Soaring Soul Wellness with Marie Asbury - Sundays from 1-2 p.m.

Student Resources

Campus Nature Rx

The Campus Nature Rx (CNRx) network aims to bolster healthy campus communities through nature engagement. CNRx is a coalition of over 60 colleges and universities and over 100 professionals dedicated to supporting campus mental and physical health through teaching, research, and outreach.

Campus Nature Rx Resources:

• CNRx Resources Page, including a free Nature Rx: Guide for first year college and university students
• CNRx YouTube channel

Bearcats Pantry Community Resource Garden

Bearcats Pantry - Community Resource Garden is located at 5121 Fishwick Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45216

Student Courses

• Planetary Health Medical School Elective: The Planetary Health and Medicine course is a 4-week part-time elective for fourth year medical students to study climate change impact.
• MEDS 2092: Introduction to Nature Based Therapies and Ecopsychology is an undergraduate course that introduces scientifically-validated strategies around the basic theories and approaches of Nature-Based Therapeutics including restorative environments, therapeutic horticulture, animal-assisted interactions, therapeutic landscapes, forest bathing, green care farming, facilitated green exercise, wilderness therapy and ecopsychology.
• Learn more about Integrative Medicine courses.

University of Cincinnati Greenspaces Map

Utilize the Google map below to find greenspaces around the University of Cincinnati

Community Resources

Planetary Health Team

Barbara Walker, PhD, Integrative Health & Performance Psychologist | Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, UC College of Medicine, Director, Nature as Medicine Programs

Barbara Walker, Ph.D.

Integrative Health and Performance Psychologist
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, College of Medicine
Associate Adjunct Professor Department of Psychology
Clinical Director, Nature as Medicine Programs
Affiliated Faculty, Osher Center for Integrative Health
Diplomate, American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Dr. Walker currently serves as an Integrative Health and Performance Psychologist within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and UC Health, where she provides consultations to a wide variety of patients to facilitate their optimal effectiveness, whether for performance in sport or within their career, coping with illness or injury, and/or a desire to improve areas associated with lifestyle for overall health and well-being. She specializes in the use of biofeedback, mind-body techniques, high performance strategies, and lifestyle medicine as tools for teaching self-regulation. Barbara also teaches Sport and Positive Psychology as an associate adjunct professor in the Psychology Department, as well as Nature-Based Therapies and Ecopsychology, and co-teaches The Science and Practice of Mind-Body Medicine within the College of Medicine at the University of Cincinnati.

Dr. Walker earned her master’s degree in health psychology, her doctorate in clinical psychology with an emphasis in exercise and sport psychology and is a licensed clinical psychologist. Barbara has consulted with multiple professional and university athletic teams and individuals, Fortune 100 and 500 companies and their executives, physicians, and first responders. Barbara is a regular presenter at local and national professional conferences and workshops, has authored multiple chapters in professional texts, and is a regular contributor to national periodicals. She has appeared as a guest expert on multiple radio and television programs. She currently serves on the board of directors for the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Association of Applied Sport Psychology, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, as well as a member of the sport psychology registry with the United States Olympic Committee. Barbara demonstrates a lifelong passion for peak performance principles applying them in her own professional and personal life as a former competitive athlete in the sports of marathon, triathlon, duathlon, and cycling. She now mindfully trains for life- currently cycling, hiking, practicing yoga, organic gardening and spending time with family, friends, being outside as much as she can!

Mladen Golubic, MD, PHD, Center Medical Director

Mladen Golubic, MD, PhD, has worked in the fields of immunogenetics and molecular and cancer biology, contributing to the understanding of interactions between the environment and our genes. His clinical work focuses now on lifestyle-related chronic diseases.

As an internist, Dr. Golubic has practiced and directed educational and research activities within integrative and lifestyle medicine since 2009 with a group of exceptional lifestyle medicine professionals (dietitians, chefs, yoga instructors, exercise physiologists, meditation teachers, etc.) within the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic.

Outside of the health system, he enjoys time with his family and spending time outdoors.

Sian Cotton, PHD, Center Director

Sian Cotton, PHD

Director, Osher Center for Integrative Health | Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, UC College of Medicine

Dr. Cotton is a licensed clinical psychologist and founding director of the UC Center for Integrative Health and Wellness and UC Health Integrative Medicine. A Professor in the Departments of Family and Community Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Cotton has an active research lab with ongoing clinical studies focusing primarily on mindfulness-based interventions and integrative medicine practice-based research. In 2007, Dr. Cotton was awarded a K23 career development award by the National Institutes of Health to examine the role of spiritual coping and health-related quality of life in adolescents with a chronic illness. A former Board member for the Academic Consortium of Integrative Medicine and Health, she is often invited to speak with community organizations and businesses, healthcare audiences, and academics about mind-body medicine for stress reduction, and preventive and wellness-based approaches to healthcare.

Kelly Lyle, MHA, MS, Director of Education, Osher Center for Integrative Health, College of Medicine

Kelly Lyle, MHA, MS | Director of Education, Osher Center for Integrative Health, College of Medicine

Kelly has a Master of Health Administration and a Master of Science in Health Promotion and Education degrees from UC. She is a certified yoga instructor, ACE Certified Health Coach and an INFTA Certified Forest Therapy Guide.

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