Nature on prescription - the loneliness trial that lasted a year

News-Medical · Article

In a randomised controlled trial in Barcelona, 320 lonely older adults from 12 low-income neighbourhoods were assigned either to a small group doing nature-based activities together for two hours a week over nine weeks, or to the same activities on their own. Both routes reduced loneliness, and the benefit grew rather than faded over a year of follow-up.

Key takeaways:

• Loneliness scores fell by about 11 percent at three months, 12 percent at six months and 17 percent at one year in the study population
• Group activity helped most for people who started with the lowest emotional wellbeing; solo nature time still helped everyone else
• The model, called Friends in Nature, is part of the RECETAS project, which has run trials and studies across six cities in Europe, Latin America and Australia

Hype check: Proven - a randomised controlled trial with 12-month follow-up, published in a Lancet journal. Promising - wider rollout and insurer coverage, which are not yet in place. Marketing - none in the source; the claims stay inside the trial population of lonely urban older adults.