“I’d like to see how the Center for Nature and Health can help mobilize the medical voice and leverage our unique role in advocating for park access. We need a shared understanding that access to parks and nature is ultimately a health equity issue.” — Dr. Nooshin Razani
Dr. Nooshin Razani wants her patients to spend time in nature. In fact, the Pediatrician regularly prescribes time outside so that families in Oakland, particularly those most impacted by health disparities, can soak up the many health benefits parks provide. While Nooshin’s work as the Founder and Director of the Center for Nature and Health is groundbreaking, she’s apparently not the first in her family to take on such a role. “My mom ran a government program in Iran, providing services for disabled people,” says Nooshin. “She took kids with developmental disabilities out in nature as part of her push to normalize them in the culture. I didn’t realize the connection until a few years ago, but I look back now and am amazed at how much my mom and those experiences influence what I do today.”
The Center for Nature and Health partners with local organizations to take youth and their families on park outings that are free or low-cost. “We want people to understand that public lands and parks are their lands to enjoy,” says Nooshin. “Everyone has a right to fun and play.” Nooshin also conducts research in order to back her work with science and implement programs that bring parks and healthcare together in support of children and communities.
With much research supporting the idea that time spent in nature correlates with a multitude of physical and mental health benefits, Nooshin strongly feels parks access should be a public health priority. “I’d like to see how the Center for Nature and Health can help mobilize the medical voice and leverage our unique role in advocating for park access,” remarks Nooshin. “We need a shared understanding that access to parks and nature is ultimately a health equity issue.”
To learn more about Nooshin and the work the Center for Nature and Health is doing to advocate for nature as a public health priority, visit https://www.childrenshospitaloakland.org/main/departments-services/center-for-nature-and-health-177.aspx