A new relationship

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip James
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Paradigm Shifts ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Conservation Policies ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
The Way

If the health and well-being benefits attributable to contact with nature are to be realized, there needs to be a change in the framing of nature within urban environments. The way nature is perceived and valued and the way that it is incorporated in policy and practice need to be re-positioned. The discourse around that challenge and the resulting re-framing are set out. There is a discussion of the changing relationship between humans and the natural environment. Ideas around nature apart from, or in spite of, or for, or and people are considered. These paradigm shifts affect conservation policies and associated practices. The ecosystem services and disservices attributable to urban environments are assessed. The importance of cultural services within urban environments is highlighted. Tensions that exist within this changing relationship are causing humans to forget the natural world and its benefits, with knock-on ill effects to human health.

scholarly journals Measuring the Effects of Forest SPA Programme in Urban Parks Using Active Imagination

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-234
Author(s):  
Gordana Pešalj ◽  
Svetlana Uršič ◽  
Ivana Jovanović ◽  
Svetlana Zdravković ◽  
Ljubica Presetnik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bodily Pain ◽  
High Stress ◽  
Urban Parks ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Active Imagination ◽  
Daily Routine ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Health And Well Being

AbstractNature has been shown to be beneficial to our overall health and well-being. We are all connected to nature and it is important to maintain this vital connection for our health and well-being. Spending time outside in nature or urban parks has been shown to positively affect a person’s emotions and improve their sense of well-being. Access to nature balances circadian rhythms, lowers blood pressure, reduces stress and increases absorption of Vitamin D. Increasingly, evidence demonstrates that contactwith the living world around us is an important part of healing and recovery. The natural world’s role in human well-being is an essential, yet often forgotten, aspect of healthcare. Of particular importance are the benefits one can derive through interaction with natural environments. Reincorporating the natural world is practiced to move healthcare toward being more “green”. Spiritual well-being is enhanced through the experience of greater interconnections, and it occurs when interacting with the natural world. One study examined the physiological and psychological responses to real forest landscapes as well as the therapeutic uses of forests relative to urban environments.Lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol have been reported in adults subsequent to performing the same mental activities in a garden setting vs. an indoor classroom. A separate study involving over 11,000 adults from Denmark showed that living more than 1 km away from green space (forests, parks, beaches, lakes) were 42 percent more likely to report high stress and had the worst scores on evaluations of general health, vitality, mental health and bodily pain The landscape itself offers retreat from daily routine. The aim of our research was to measure the effects of Forest SPA programs on attendants’ well-being. Research has been organized in cooperation between Health college Belgrade and Medical SPA Association of Serbia. There were fourteen participants taking part in the research. Prior to Forest SPA program all participants, 14 students on specialization in Medical Wellness were invited to half-an-hour active imagination (mandala drawing) workshop. Drawing Mandala is a meditation in motion, dreaming with open eyes, and during the process of active imagination the unconscious self is active and not passive like in dreams. Using the data and research methodology from Henderson’s Empirical Study of the Healing Nature of Artistic Expression we designed our investigation. After 90 minutes of Forest SPA program in selected Urban park, participants were invited to draw mandala to describe how they feel at that moment. Several participants (8 of them) attended a 90-minute City SPA program with Tibetan bowls vibration massage. At the end of the SPA program they were invited to draw mandala. Analyzing symbols and colors, number of symbols and their relationship in presented mandalas we can realize the effects of the Forest SPA programs in urban parks on achieving better emotional balance and enhancing individualization process in participants. Our pilot research of Active imagination (by drawing mandalas) revealed that it can be used as a part of Forest SPA program as ART therapy and at the same time as an instrument for individual approach to the client of Forest SPA program as a medical SPA concept.

scholarly journals The Value of Urban Nature in Terms of Providing Ecosystem Services Related to Health and Well-Being: An Empirical Comparative Pilot Study of Cities in Germany and the Czech Republic

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 341
Author(s):  
Ralf-Uwe Syrbe ◽  
Ina Neumann ◽  
Karsten Grunewald ◽  
Patrycia Brzoska ◽  
Jiři Louda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Urban Nature ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health And Well Being

The quality of life in our cities critically depends on the intelligent planning and shaping of urban living space, in particular urban nature. By providing a wide range of ecosystem services (ES), urban nature essentially contributes to the well-being of city dwellers and plays a major role in avoiding common diseases through its positive impact on physical and mental health. Health is one of the most important factors underlying human welfare and is, thus, vital to sustainable development. The ES of urban green space provide other social-cultural functions alongside public health, for example by fostering environmental justice and citizenship participation. Thus, they should always be considered when searching for solutions to urban problems. The aim of this research was to determine the impact of green areas in three selected cities on the health and well-being of people by self-reporting of green areas’ visitors. To this end, we posed the research question: which types and characteristics of urban green space are most appreciated by city dwellers? Based on our findings, we have drawn up recommendations for practices to promote better living conditions. We have also pinpointed obstacles to and opportunities for leisure time activities as well as ways of supporting the public health of citizens.

scholarly journals Are we ignoring a black elephant in the Anthropocene? Climate change and global pandemic as the crisis in health and equality

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shinichiro Asayama ◽  
Seita Emori ◽  
Masahiro Sugiyama ◽  
Fumiko Kasuga ◽  
Chiho Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Climate ◽  
Global Environment ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Sustainability Research ◽  
Health And Well Being

Abstract Climate change and coronavirus pandemic are the twin crises in the Anthropocene, the era in which unsustainable growth of human activities has led to a significant change in the global environment. The two crises have also exposed a chronic social illness of our time—a deep, widespread inequality in society. Whilst the circumstances are unfortunate, the pandemic can provide an opportunity for sustainability scientists to focus more on human society and its inequalities, rather than a sole focus on the natural environment. It opens the way for a new normative commitment of science in a time of crises. We suggest three agendas for future climate and sustainability research after the pandemic: (1) focus on health and well-being, (2) moral engagement through empathy, and (3) science of loss for managing grief.

Happiness at the End of Life: A Qualitative Study

2020 ◽  
pp. 104990912093985
Author(s):  
Anne O’Callaghan ◽  
Ben Bickford ◽  
Conor Rea ◽  
Antonio Fernando ◽  
Phillipa Malpas
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Hospice Care ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Natural World ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Present Moment ◽  
Hospice Patients ◽  
Health And Well Being

Background: Happiness is a core ingredient of health and well-being, yet relatively little is known about what happiness means for individuals near the end of life, and whether perceptions of happiness change as individuals approach the end of their lives. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore, through interviews, how individuals experiencing hospice care understood and conceptualized happiness. Design: Qualitative interviews with hospice patients were analyzed thematically. Setting/Participants: Adult patients (n = 20) in a New Zealand hospice who were receiving palliative care and who could give their informed consent were invited by hospice nurse coordinators to an interview. Results: Four themes emerged from analysis of the transcribed interviews. Participants defined happiness most frequently and in most depth in relation to connection with others. They identified being in the present moment, particularly in relation to nature, and that happiness had become less associated with money, status, or possessions. They had an attitude of determination to focus on what mattered now. Conclusion: Patients receiving palliative care were generally happy with their lives, appreciated the simpler aspects of life away from the material. There was a common exhortation to young people to avoid focusing too much on acquisition and the internet and to prioritize instead social connection and engagement with the natural world.

How does video interaction guidance contribute to infant and parental mental health and well-being?

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 500-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilary Kennedy ◽  
Kevin Ball ◽  
Jane Barlow
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Theory Of Change ◽  
Mediated Learning ◽  
Infant Attachment ◽  
Values And Beliefs ◽  
Feedback Techniques ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
The Way

This article describes the contribution of video interaction guidance (VIG) to the development of infant and parental and VIG practitioners’ mental health and well-being. The theoretical core of VIG was depicted in terms of concepts such as intersubjectivity, attunement and mediated learning. The way the VIG principles alongside the underpinning values and beliefs promote a process of attunement between parent and infant, the VIG practitioner and parent, and the VIG practitioner and supervisor is described. This article also describes some of the evidence about the effectiveness of video feedback techniques more generally and the way in which the underpinning theory of change enables VIG to target key ports of entry in terms of areas that have been highlighted by numerous epidemiological studies as being important in terms of supporting or derailing infant attachment security. A case study is used to demonstrate the way in which VIG can be integrated within broader therapeutic approaches such as parent–infant psychotherapy to support the interaction of parents who have been deeply traumatised in childhood. It also demonstrates how the parallel process of practitioner ‘attunement’ to mother is key to the mother’s recovery and her new ability to form attuned relationships herself with her children and other adults.

scholarly journals Gardening in Ashes: The Possibilities and Limitations of Gardening to Support Indigenous Health and Well-Being in the Context of Wildfires and Colonialism

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 3273
Author(s):  
Kelsey Timler ◽  
Dancing Water Sandy
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Climate Crisis ◽  
Health And Well Being

In this paper, we will discuss gardening as a relationship with nature and an ongoing process to support Indigenous health and well-being in the context of the climate crisis and increasingly widespread forest fires. We will explore the concept of gardening as both a Euro-Western agriculture practice and as a longstanding Indigenous practice—wherein naturally occurring gardens are tended in relationship and related to a wider engagement with the natural world — and the influences of colonialism and climate change on both. Drawing on our experiences as an Indigenous Knowledge Keeper (Dancing Water) and a non-Indigenous community-based researcher (Kelsey), our dialogue will outline ways to support health and well-being through land-based activities that connect with Indigenous traditions in ways that draw on relationships to confront colonialism and the influences of climate change. This dialogue is founded on our experiences in the central interior of British Columbia, Canada, one of the areas hit hardest by the 2017 wildfires. We will explore the possibilities and limitations of gardening and the wider concept of reciprocity and relationship as a means to support food security, food sovereignty, and health for Indigenous Peoples.

The Conceptualization of the Natural Environment in Healthcare Facilities: A Scoping Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-47
Author(s):  
Peggy Chi ◽  
Jennifer Gutberg ◽  
Whitney Berta
Keyword(s):  
Scoping Review ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Work Outcomes ◽  
Healthcare Facilities ◽  
Therapeutic Goals ◽  
Therapeutic Benefits ◽  
Contact Frequency ◽  
Nature Contact ◽  
Health And Well Being

Objectives: To identify how the natural environment (NE) in healthcare has been conceptualized. Background: The NE appears to afford significant therapeutic benefits. A clear concept of the NE in healthcare affords a shared understanding from which to advance science to facilitate comparisons across contexts. In this article, the various meanings of the NE were brought together into one framework by which to map its themes and their relationships. Method: A scoping review was conducted using database searches in MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Cochrane for articles published up to July 2018. The bibliography of the included articles were manually searched for published books. Results: This review includes 137 peer-reviewed articles and research-based books from 27 countries. A conceptual framework was developed to identify five themes that conceptualize the NE in healthcare: (1) definitions of the NE in healthcare, (2) processes of the NE in healthcare, (3) usages of the NE in healthcare, (4) opinions about the NE in healthcare, and (5) NE’s impacts on health and work outcomes in healthcare. These themes are filtered by the NE’s physical and programmatic designs; changes in one affect the others. Definitions of the NE are described as human-made space, located in the indoors and outdoors, containing elements of nature and designed with the purpose to positively influence humans. Processes are described as the participatory approach in NE's development and its therapeutic goals. Usages are categorized into nature contact, frequency of usage, and accessibility. Opinions are accounted for by perceptions, preference, and satisfaction. Outcomes are related to physical health, mental health and well-being and work. Conclusions: This framework contributes to the conceptual discussion and emphasizes NE’s complementarity to the biomedical healthcare system.

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