Great Outdoors 'On Prescription' Call

Camping, caravan and motorhome holidays can encourage people outdoors and towards a potentially healthier lifestyle, says TV’s Dr Hilary Jones, who appeared at October’s Motorhome and Caravan Show 2018 at Birmingham’s NEC. Dr Hilary says there’s many aspects of camping and leisure vehicle activities that support both mental and physical well-being. “Camping and leisure vehicle holidays provide the perfect opportunity to get up and go on shorter trips and adventures, and encourage family time as well as getting outdoors, exercise, a change of scenery, new adventures and socialising. Dr Hilary suggests scientific evidence shows people also benefit from getting closer to nature, which is a fundamental connection for humans and the opposite of connecting to screens and electronic devices. “The outdoors even impacts on recovery after surgery, concludes Dr Hilary Jones. “In a gall bladder surgery experiment, half the patients post-surgery had a view of hospital walls only, half had a view of the outdoors. The latter group reported less pain during recovery than those looking at just hospital walls.”