More Nature, Better Health: Urban Forestry’s Reduction of Health Care Expenditures

A number of studies have illustrated that people are healthier in greener places. Contact with nature has been tied to reduced incidence of mortality and of a range of mental and physical diseases. Through this channel, greenspace also has an economic benefit – that of reducing healthcare expenditures. Kathryn Boyle (Project Manager, Kaiser Permanente) will discuss Kaiser Permanente’s efforts to improve community health outcomes by investing in access to nature. Dr. Stephen Van Den Eeden (Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente) and Dr. Matthew Browning (Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) will outline a recent study linking high-resolution satellite data on urban forests to individual-level health outcomes and costs, and will discuss the return on investment (in terms of reduced health care spending) expected from various investments in urban forestry. Their conversation will touch on how individual-level, geo-located health care cost data allows for these types of interventions and for these conclusions to be drawn.

The free online event will last one hour and is open to the public. Email invitations for following Nature's Returns webinars will be sent as the dates approach. Visit the CBEY website for up-to-date information regarding these and other events.