In Sweden, a new kind of prescription comes with side effects that can include “a sudden appreciation for pine trees” or the desire “for meatball dinners and reading like it’s the 1800s.” These tongue-in-cheek warnings appear in Visit Sweden’s latest ad campaign, which launched this week to spotlight a research-backed initiative encouraging doctors worldwide to prescribe travel to the country.
Reviewed by researchers at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institutet, a medical university, the program suggests specific Swedish experiences that can lead to documented health benefits, such as forest bathing to lower stress and blood pressure, cold plunging to increase circulation and energy, sleeping under the stars to regulate circadian rhythms, or dancing at a summer music festival to boost serotonin levels. The campaign and its suggested activities are intended to serve “as a supportive tool to promote well-being, particularly in cases of stress, fatigue, mild anxiety, and other low- to moderate-level symptoms,” per Visit Sweden’s Swedish Prescription website.
“Visiting Sweden is like a natural health remedy,” said Susanne Andersson, CEO of Visit Sweden, in a press release announcing the program. “Our fika tradition, our lagom, [or] balanced lifestyle, and our easily accessible nature are a soothing balm for body and mind.”
Although the campaign video cheekily suggests that “if you find yourself developing a taste for herring and minimalism, consult your travel agent immediately,” the program is more than just a marketing gimmick; research has shown that time spent in nature or participating in cultural activities can support both mental and physical health.
Dr. Manoj Sharma, a professor of social and behavioral health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, says he wishes “more healthcare professionals advocated spending time in nature, given the multifarious benefits to physical and mental health and well-being. Contact with nature has been found to positively influence several diseases and conditions and is associated with boosted immunity in some infectious diseases. ”
Dr. Marcus Coplin, a naturopathic medical doctor and the medical director for The Springs Resort and Murrieta Hot Springs Resort echos that sentiment, telling Afar, “Forest climates, hydrothermal therapies, local healing traditions, and cultural practices create an enticing blend of factors that regulate and promote optimal function of the body with unique local elements that are found at the specific location.”
Dr. Coplin added that for centuries, people have been seeking the healing benefits of the natural resources and environments around them. The mineral-rich hot springs in the American West and Japan have long been touted for their ability to cure everything from arthritis to skin conditions. Similarly, at 1,400 feet below sea level, the Dead Sea’s hypersaline waters are often recommended for skin ailments such as psoriasis and eczema.
Travel prescription programs in North America
While Sweden may be the first to link prescriptions to a national travel campaign, the idea of doctors prescribing time spent outdoors or in social settings has recently gained traction among organizations seeking to promote the concept as a real-life remedy to modern-day health challenges.
A handful of other programs reveal how this looks in practice:
- Park Rx America: This program trains doctors and nurses to prescribe time in local parks, encouraging patients to spend 30 minutes walking outdoors several times a week. Studies show even modest increases in time outside can lower cortisol levels and support cardiovascular health.
- Social Prescribing USA: A personal care model that tackles loneliness by empowering health providers to write referrals not for medication, but for a group activity—such as joining a walking club, attending a community dinner, or volunteering. The goal is to improve mental health and build social support networks.
- The Nature Connection Guide offers physicians a curated menu of outdoor activities tailored to specific health outcomes. For instance, gardening is linked to improved mobility and mood, while bird-watching can encourage mindfulness and reduce anxiety.
- In Massachusetts, the Mass Cultural Council, an independent state arts agency, has experimented with cultural prescriptions, distributing passes to museums, concerts, and performances. The idea is that art and cultural connection aren’t luxuries, but essentials that can improve well-being and combat isolation.
- Parks Canada developed PaRx, a program that allows doctors to prescribe a free, annual Adult Parks Canada Discovery Pass to patients who could benefit from time in nature.
Together, these initiatives highlight a shift in thinking: Health care doesn’t always happen in hospitals or pharmacies. Sometimes it happens on a hiking trail, in a gallery, or over a shared cup of coffee. For advocates, the gap underscores the need to normalize these tools in mainstream healthcare.
“The beauty of this practice is it is one part adventure and one part healthcare,” Dr. Coplin says. “By removing oneself from the daily grind, traveling to a unique location, and spending time immersing within the specific rhythms provided by that place, our bodies and minds are able to find a new pace, letting go of accumulated stressors and strengthening the resiliency of the body’s natural healing mechanisms.”
Considering that Sweden is consistently ranked in the top five on global happiest countries lists (this year it ranked fourth overall on both the World Population Review and the Happier Lives Institute lists) and offers design-forward cities, island-studded coastlines, and wild Arctic landscapes where the northern lights often dance overhead, it may be worth a trip, whether it’s prescribed by your doctor or not.
