Sonya L. Jakubec

Nature-based experiences and health of cancer survivors

PURPOSE Although exposure to, and interaction with, natural environments are recognized as health-promoting, little is understood about the use of nature contact in treatment and rehabilitation for cancer survivors. METHODS This narrative review summarizes the literature exploring the influence of nature-based experiences on survivor health. Key databases included CINAHL, EMBASE, Medline, Web of Science, PubMed, PsycArticles, ProQuest, and Cancerlit databases. RESULTS Sixteen articles met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Four major categories emerged: 1) Dragon boat racing may enhance breast cancer survivor quality of life, 2) Natural environment may counteract attentional fatigue in newly diagnosed breast cancer survivors, 3) Adventure programs provide a positive experience for children and adolescent survivors, fostering a sense of belonging and self-esteem, and 4) Therapeutic landscapes may decrease state-anxiety, improving survivor health. CONCLUSIONS This review contributes to a better understanding of the therapeutic effects of nature-based experiences on cancer survivor health, providing a point of entry for future study.

''More than the house'': a Canadian perspective on housing stability

Purpose – The challenges of achieving housing stability are examinable from a variety of locations and perspectives, resulting in a range of solutions and recommendations for practice. Attending to the experiences and understandings of both service users and service providers within a broad environmental scan, one can obtain a more complete picture of how housing stability can be supported and sustained. The purpose of this research is to better understand the practical landscape, human relationships, interdisciplinary understandings and everyday activities of housing stability. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on thematic analysis from expert informant interviews conducted during an environmental scan of housing options and facilities for those who have been labelled ‘‘hard to house’’ in a large, ethnically-diverse urban city in western Canada. Interviews of selected service users yielded information on their perspectives of the barriers and facilitators of housing stability. Parallel interviews of service providers and/or policy makers were also conducted, and responses compared and contrasted with those of service users. Findings – Three interconnected patterns on the path to housing stability were experienced by the expert informants, and are explored herein. The overlapping and developmental themes ‘‘more than a house,’’ ‘‘finding support,’’ and ‘‘connecting multiple supports’’ are discussed. Conditions and realities of coordinated support need, particularly for those deemed ‘‘hard to house’’ because of addictions or mental health problems were revealed by the expert informants in this study. Research limitations/implications – Thematic analysis of the parallel interviews brought the landscape of housing stability into clearer focus and contributed to practice recommendations. This qualitative research approach was not intended to provide generalizable findings, but rather sheds light on particular experiences and understandings in ways that may contribute to further research. The themes identified may resonate in differing circumstances having arisen from the more generalized practical realities and social conditions which warrant an ongoing analysis. Practical implications – The analysis revealed an ongoing gap of support for the management and coordination of the often complex requirements of support for housing stability for service users. Various service agencies, providing houses, providing financial aid, providing health and social support need to ‘‘connect multiple levels of support’’ something identified as an all too often missing link in achieving housing stability. Recommendations include recognizing the necessity of multiple sectors working together with multiple sites and layers of support, in particular for those who experience addictions or mental health problems. More tailored support, follow up and recognition of the potential for instability is a particular practical implication of the study. Invigorating a coordinative, case management role, with a view to bridging and bringing together seemingly disparate sectors and service providers are relevant practical implications of this study.

Mental well-being and quality-of-life benefits of inclusion in nature for adults with disabilities and their caregivers

Abstract The benefits of green space and nature experiences are increasingly being recognised and translated into public health policy and practice. Alongside this trend, inclusion of all people into parks and nature has been an important area of parks and recreation practice. Nature inclusion for those with disabilities, youth, seniors and immigrants has become a focus of Alberta in Western Canada. This study was designed to examine the influence of two such government supported nature interventions, including day trips and a more extensive weekend or week-long nature experience, on mental well-being outcomes. It is a mixed methods pilot study (N = 37) with baseline and post-intervention measures of quality of life using the standard Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI) alongside other qualitative accounts. Quantitative findings, while not statistically significant, show a positive trend towards improved depression markers, greater health satisfaction, improved social relationships (in particular, love and friendship), as well as satisfaction with a sense of community and experiences of helping. In addition to comments within the QOLI, qualitative data were elicited through reflective writing during the nature interventions. Three dominant qualitative themes of inclusive nature experiences were found: ‘Sensory Activation’, ‘Reimagined Social Relations’ and ‘Reinvented Self’.

‘I Can Reinvent Myself Out Here’: Experiences of Nature Inclusion and Mental Well-Being

Abstract Purpose The benefits of green space and nature are increasingly recognized and translated into public health policy and practice. Alongside this trend, inclusion of all people into parks and nature has been an important area of parks and recreation practice. Nature inclusion for those with disabilities, youth, seniors and immigrants has become a focus of Alberta Parks in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism Parks and Recreation in Western Canada. This study was designed to examine the experiences of participants in two such government-supported inclusive nature activities, including day trips and more extensive week-end or week-long nature experiences for adults with disabilities and caregivers. Design/methodology/approach Two phases of qualitative data collection occurred as part of a pilot project. The first phase was comprised of eight semi-structured interviews (four adults with cognitive, developmental, emotional/mental health or physical disabilities and four caregivers). In a second phase 27 participants (also adults with a range of disabilities and paid, voluntary or family caregivers) engaged in a semi-structured reflective writing process during the existing nature activities (day trip, week-end or week-long inclusive nature experiences). This is one of the first studies in the field to embrace the benefits of adopting both a human capabilities approach, emphasizing that human diversity is fundamental to equality and development, and an ecopsychological view, with a concern for individual perspectives and well-being as fundamentally interconnected to the environment. Findings Three dominant qualitative themes of inclusive nature experiences emerged: ‘Sensory Activation’, ‘Reimagined Social Relations’ and ‘Reinvented Self’. Inclusion in nature for both caregivers and adults with disabilities holds promise as an activity that can support mental well-being through a reimagining and equalizing of relationships and one’s experience of self in the physical environment. Practical implications Such evidence is important for decision-making and programme development among collaborative partners, including not-for profit disability-related recreation organizations and both public health and parks departments of government. In particular, the findings highlight areas for further activity development targeting those with sensory impairment and relationship disharmony.

Somatics education for crisis intervention training

Abstract In the emotionally charged practice of crisis intervention, self awareness is an important area of development for all health practitioners. Body intuition and intelligence arise out of somatic understanding, leading students to understand people in critical moments and how to respond effectively to their needs. The goal of expanded self-awareness was the focus of our exploration of the purpose and potential for integrating somatics education into a simulated clinical experience for third-year mental health nursing practice in a bachelor of nursing program. This paper explores the rationale behind, and potential for, a somatic approach for crisis intervention in nursing education and practice.

Interrogating the Rights Discourse and Knowledge-Making Regimes of the “Movement for Global Mental Health”

This chapter is written in the context of the “scaling up” of the movement for global mental health. Looking at a program that began benignly, the authors trace its gradual deterioration, particularly focusing in on what happens when a conflation occurs between people’s rights being honored and their receiving of “psychiatric treatment.” This timely critique points in the direction of alternatives to the increasingly objectified and globalized notions of “the right to mental health,” arguing for a return to the more open processes with which this movement began.

Creating the Better Workplace in Our Minds: Workplace “Mental Health” and the Reframing of Social Problems as Psychiatric Issues

Responding to an international discourse that frames workplace “psychological health” initiatives as vital to worker well-being, the authors of this chapter use texts and interviews to examine the ideologies and actual impacts of workplace “mental health” initiatives. The data show how worker productivity, satisfaction/dissatisfaction, and protest are being reframed as mental health issues. Rather than actually creating “healthier workplaces,” the authors argue, what is happening is the importation of extremely problematic features of the dominant “mental health” system into workplaces. Dynamics especially highlighted include power imbalances, coercion, and discrimination.

Live From the Love Lab: Sparking a Love for Research in Undergraduate Students

In this time of unprecedented information overload, undergraduate students find themselves challenged by the tasks of searching, interpreting, and appraising confusing volumes of information and evidence. Despite the importance of research literacy, however, “research” may well be among the least popular of all courses for undergraduate students. How, then, can a professor engage students effectively in an introductory research course? How can research literacy be perceived by students as relevant and interesting—particularly those fateful four class sessions focused on the most technical topics of all: research methods? Inspired by the March 2006 issue of the Atlantic Monthly, I may have found the magic elixir. In that issue, Lori Gottlieb’s article “How Do I Love Thee” explored the various scientific strategies employed by on-line matchmaking services (Gottlieb 2006). Seeing the parallel to the lives of my students, I focused my research methods classes on the science of love, romance, relationship, and matchmaking. As an in-class learning activity for the classes on research methods, students worked in groups of three or four to consider research questions about a love, relationship, or romance topic of their interest. They searched the literature, read, and appraised research using qualitative and quantitative methods, and presented their findings to their classmates in brief, creative presentations. They found research studies on a diversity of topics with a variety of designs, including experimental and quasi-experimental design, as well as ethnographies, phenomenologies, grounded theories, and other qualitative methods.