Planetary health prescriptions: Finland’s new physician role connects human and climate health
BMJ 2024; 387 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q2093 (Published 08 October 2024) Cite this as: BMJ 2024;387:q2093
In 2021, Hanna Haveri became Finland’s first planetary health physician, a unique role created by her local wellbeing county.
“I don’t think there are such positions elsewhere in Finland and I haven’t heard about such positions elsewhere in the world,” Haveri says. “They wanted to establish this role to show that the healthcare sector is truly committed to sustainable development, and to promote planetary health.”
In Finland, there are 21 wellbeing services counties that are responsible for organising health, social, and emergency services. Planetary health is a relatively new introduction—one that refers to the idea that human health and the health of the planet are interconnected.1
Haveri has worked on several projects across the city of Lahti since taking the role. But one initiative stands out: planetary health prescriptions.
In collaboration with experts from local universities, the project set out to see how residents could lead healthier and more environmentally friendly lives through small adjustments. This took the form of “prescriptions” Haveri provided to five volunteers drawn from throughout the city.
Haveri focused on helping one participant—a busy 30 year old father with a hectic career who exercised regularly and participated in triathlons—deal with fatigue. “In his prescription, we concentrated on how to relax more, how he could be kinder to himself, and how to reconnect with nature,” she says.
Instead of driving to and from a running track to exercise and then rushing home, Haveri advised him instead to exercise in a nearby forest and take time to stretch and cool down before walking home barefoot through nature. “It amazed him how relaxed he was after this,” she says.
For another patient—an elderly woman who had become isolated and lonely because of an injury that had left her unable to leave her house during the project period—Haveri suggested that she start a bird watching competition with her grandchildren.
“She had a little competition, seeing how many birds she could see with binoculars from her balcony and she also tried to identify the sounds of the birds. She found it inspiring and it also gave her something to discuss with her grandchildren,” Haveri explains. “She found it soothing and felt more cheerful after these sessions.”
“I was like a lifestyle counsellor who not only took into account health matters but also encouraged a lifestyle that could promote environmental wellbeing,” Haveri says. “The participants were very enthusiastic about the prescriptions.”
Keep it simple
For Haveri, one of the most important messages was that creating a healthier lifestyle doesn’t have to take a lot of time. “In our prescriptions, we wanted to concentrate on little steps, and try to emphasise that you can always try to fit it into those little moments,” she says.
The project is part of Lahti’s “bold green city” vision. Currently, it is working on becoming a carbon neutral city by 2025 and a zero waste circular economy city by 2050, and is encouraging residents to protect nature and use sustainable modes of transport—from buses to skiing.2 In 2021, Lahti was named the European green capital.
While a full report on the prescriptions project is still being written, Haveri says she has already started to see the impact it has had, not only in terms of how her patients feel, but in the way it has changed conversations.
She stresses the importance of keeping it simple. “It doesn’t have to be a big deal when we give this advice. It can be something very normal in a patient’s daily life. Just little suggestions. For example, for an older person it could just be that when they go to the shop, if they can, take the route through the park or through the forest, rather than on the busy street.”
“The wonderful thing was that it really aroused attention of the public and of Finland,” Haveri says. “Many sectors are interested in what’s been going on in Lahti city—what kind of things we’ve done for the environment and how to promote public health and so on.”