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GPs to Prescribe Football Matches for Depression Sufferers in Groundbreaking
GLOUCESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND, JUL 20 – The Gloucestershire pilot offers football tickets free to patients with mild to moderate depression to reduce loneliness, with 80% of participants continuing prescribed activities, Dr Opher said.
- Live football matches will be prescribed to patients with depression, with tickets donated free by Forest Green Rovers, as the season begins on August 16.
- As part of a broader social prescribing push, social prescribing prompted the scheme, which Dr Simon Opher and Dale Vince developed for mild to moderate depression.
- Nearly 80% adherence means, Dr Simon Opher noted, `Football isn't going to be for everyone. Nothing is, but we need a range of options.`
- Uncertainty remains after Dr Simon Opher noted `football clubs are in the centre of our communities and it’s a way of getting people who perhaps are a bit socially isolated back into the community and back chatting to people.`
- Future evaluation will collect evidence on the scheme's impact and may expand if successful in the UK and possibly the world.
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26 Articles
British doctor Simon Opher, who is also a member of the labor force, decided to prescribe tickets to the National League's matches (the fifth football division) of his patients suffering from depression, reports The Team.
Football as a treatment option: In Gloucestershire, England, people with depression will soon be able to attend Forest Green Rovers home games free of charge, to counteract social isolation.
GPs to prescribe football matches for depression sufferers in groundbreaking
The innovative scheme, devised by GP-turned-politician Dr Simon Opher alongside Mr Vince, will offer patients the opportunity to watch National League outfit Forest Green Rovers in action.
In the United Kingdom, patients will soon be able to attend football matches with a doctor's prescription as an alternative treatment for depression. This is a pilot project by GP and Labour MP Simon Opher, in collaboration with Dale Vince, owner of Forest Green Rovers football club and founder of wind energy company Ecotricity.
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