# General Practitioners’ Perceptions on Prescribing Coastal Visits for Mental Health in Flanders (Belgium)

## TL;DR

This study explores how general practitioners in Flanders view prescribing coastal visits for mental health, finding both support and several barriers to implementation.

## Contribution

The paper provides new insights into GPs' perspectives on coastal prescribing, identifying barriers and potential solutions for integrating this approach into healthcare.

## Key findings

- GPs generally believe in the therapeutic benefits of the coast but acknowledge risks like crowding and patient-specific effects.
- Six barriers to coastal prescribing were identified, including feasibility concerns and lack of scientific evidence.
- GPs suggested gathering more scientific evidence and raising awareness to support coastal prescribing.

## Abstract

Background: Increasing evidence suggests that visiting the coast benefits mental health and that coastal prescribing is a promising societal endpoint. General practitioners (GPs) are the pivotal access point for patients to receive diagnosis and treatment, but little is known about their perspective on recommending patients to visit the coast. Methods: This study applied qualitative semi-structured interviews to explore GPs’ perspectives on coastal prescribing in Flanders. We interviewed eleven GPs (aged 32–69 years) and inspected their responses using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Results show that the interviewed GPs generally believed in the therapeutic benefits of the coast, but also acknowledged risks associated with crowding and patient-specific effects. Six barriers were identified for coastal prescribing: feasibility concerns, lack of awareness, prioritizing physical exercise or visiting nearby green nature, anticipating low motivation of the patient, feeling pressure to prescribe medication, and needing more scientific evidence. As solutions, they proposed gathering more scientific evidence and raising awareness. Finally, the GPs regarded their field expertise as valuable in helping to recruit patients for follow-up research on the health effects of the coast. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of engaging GPs, patients, and other stakeholders to identify key knowledge gaps before co-creating coastal prescribing in healthcare.