Table 1.
Comparison of Park Rx, Park Rx America and PaRx.
| Park Rx (U.S.) | Park Rx America (U.S.) | PaRx (Canada) |
|---|---|---|
| https://www.parkrx.org Born in San Francisco, CA, Managed by The Institute of the Golden Gate | https://parkrxamerica.org Born out of DC Park Rx in Washington, DC. Dr Robert Zarr | https://www.parkprescriptions.ca Born in British Columbia, Canada. Dr Melissa Lem, PaRx Director |
| ParkRx is a collaboration with the US National Parks. In 2013, “The Institute at the Golden Gate and the National Recreation and Parks Association, with support from the National Park Service, convened a group of practitioners to discuss the emerging trend of prescribing nature to improve mental and physical health. This group developed the National ParkRx Initiative with the goal of supporting the emerging community of Park Prescription practitioners. ParkRx.org began as the home for the National ParkRx Initiative and has grown into the leading information hub for Park Prescriptions, creating a space for knowledge sharing in the practitioner community.” | “We at PRA (Park Rx America) believe that nature-rich areas should be accessible to all, and incorporated into our daily routines. Spending time in and around nature is the single most important first-step to improving both human and planetary health. PRA is committed to educating healthcare professionals and the public, and to providing the tools to meet each individual’s unique needs. We know that there is a preponderance of evidence that incorporating more nature into our lives improves our physical and mental health and social well-being, AND that nature prescriptions increase our patient’s likelihood of spending more time in nature.” | PaRx is an initiative of the BC Parks Foundation, driven by healthcare professionals who want to improve their patients’ health by connecting them to nature. Featuring practical resources like quick tips and patient handouts, its goal is to make prescribing time in nature simple, fun and effective |
| Each prescriber who registerswith PaRx will receive a nature prescription file customized with a unique provider code, and instructions for how to prescribe and log nature prescriptions. Patients can also access special offers from our proud partners to reduce their barriers to nature access across Canada. | ||
| They provide a “Park Prescription Program Toolkit”—a step by step guide to starting a Park Prescription Program. The 4 toolkits are Clinician, Public Health, Community, and Parks. The Clinician toolkit has a “Healthy Parks, Healthy People” guide for healthcare providers, surveys, patient facing assets, and various how-to videos | Providers can sign up with their NPI number and create individualized nature prescriptions, with nice prompts to guide you in crafting the most appropriate prescription. Not only that, but patients can “check in” as a way to log their activity, which you can then see on their profile. This way you will know if and when they “filled” their Rx! | |
| BEST for creating a robust Nature Rx program and engaging local agencies, community partners, and more | BEST for providers to learn more and write individualized Nature prescriptions, prompted by all the right questions to ask at the time of writing. Great for patients to learn more as well | BEST for providers to learn more and provide a FREE Canadian park pass |
| This platform seems to be the most robust for engaging local communities and stakeholders | This platform seems to be the most robust for both providers and patients |