AASW Webinar Recording | Nature-Based Social Prescribing – Integrating Nature into Healthcare

Capability Levels: Emerging; Evolving

With rising rates of burnout, disconnection, and complex trauma in communities, social workers are uniquely positioned to lead a shift toward holistic, preventative care. Nature-based social prescribing invites us to reimagine support pathways that restore health through connection – to land, culture, and community.

This webinar offers practical tools and frameworks for integrating nature into everyday practice. Participants will gain insight into how nature can support emotional regulation, reduce isolation, and promote recovery, particularly for people experiencing trauma, chronic stress, or social exclusion.

This webinar will:

• Define nature-based social prescribing and its role in holistic healthcare
• Explore the evidence linking nature to improved mental and physical health
• Share case examples and models of nature-based programs in action
• Highlight barriers and enablers to implementation in different settings
• Offer practical ways to begin integrating nature into your current practice

Whether you're working in mental health, community services, aged care, or disability support, this session will inspire and equip you to harness the healing power of the natural world.

Who should register?

This webinar is suitable for social workers and allied health professionals at an intermediate level—those with foundational knowledge of social work practice and some experience in mental health, community development, primary care, or holistic health. It is ideal for practitioners who are looking to deepen their understanding of nature-based approaches, expand their toolkit, and explore innovative, trauma-informed models of care that support both individual and community well-being. Emerging social workers and students with an interest in preventative, place-based, and person-centered practice are also welcome.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this program, participants will be able to:

• Define nature-based social prescribing and its relevance within holistic, person-centered healthcare
• Identify practical strategies for integrating nature-based interventions into existing social work or allied health practice
• Evaluate potential barriers and enablers to implementing nature-based approaches in their own professional context

AASW Credential: Mental Health