Ulrika K. Stigsdotter

Health promoting outdoor environments - Associations between green space, and health, health-related quality of life and stress based on a Danish national representative survey

Aims: To investigate the associations between green space and health, health-related quality of life and stress, respectively. Methods: Data were derived from the 2005 Danish Health Interview Survey and are based on a region-stratified random sample of 21,832 adults. Data were collected via face-to-face interviews followed by a self-administered questionnaire, including the SF-36, which measures eight dimensions of health and the Perceived Stress Scale, which measures self-reported stress. A total of 11,238 respondents completed the interview and returned the questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the association between distance to green space and self-perceived stress. Results: Danes living more than 1 km away from the nearest green space report poorer health and health-related quality of life, i.e. lower mean scores on all eight SF-36 dimensions of health than respondents living closer. Respondents living more than 1 km away from a green space have 1.42 higher odds of experiencing stress than do respondents living less than 300 m from a green space. Respondents not reporting stress are more likely to visit a green space than are respondents reporting stress. Reasons for visiting green spaces differ significantly depending on whether or not respondents experience stress. Respondents reporting stress are likely to use green spaces to reduce stress. Conclusions: An association between distance to a green space and health and health-related quality of life was found. Further, the results indicate awareness among Danes that green spaces may be of importance in managing stress and that green spaces may play an important role as health-promoting environments.

The Workplace Window View: A Determinant of Office Workers' Work Ability and Job Satisfaction

Abstract Office workers’ job satisfaction and ability to work are two important factors for the viability and competitiveness of most companies, and existing studies in contexts other than workplaces show relationships between a view of natural elements and, for example, student performance and neighbourhood satisfaction. This study investigates whether relationships between window view, and work ability and job satisfaction also exist in the context of the workplace by focusing on office workers’ view satisfaction. The results showed that a view of natural elements was related to high view satisfaction, and that high view satisfaction was related to high work ability and high job satisfaction. Furthermore, the results indicated that job satisfaction mediated the effect of view satisfaction on work ability. These findings show that a view of a green outdoor environment at the workplace can be an important asset in workforce work ability and job satisfaction.

Identifying Features of Pocket Parks that May Be Related to Health Promoting Use

Abstract Urban green spaces have been shown to promote health and well-being and recent research indicates that the two primary potentially health promoting uses of pocket parks are ‘rest and restitution’ and ‘socialising’. The aim of this study is to identify features in pocket parks that may support these uses. The relationship between the two types of use and the shape, size, noise level, greenness, as well as ‘elements’ (paved and unpaved trails, café, historical feature, table, other seating than benches, flowerbeds, view outside park, playground) in nine pocket parks in Copenhagen were analysed. The results show that ‘green features’ do not seem to be of crucial importance for ‘socialising’ whereas, as expected, features promoting gathering should be prioritised. For ‘rest and restitution’, the main results show that ‘green ground cover’ and ‘enclosed green niches’ are important, while ‘disturbing features’ (playground, view outside park) should be avoided. The results add knowledge about the features which support the health promoting use of pocket parks to the existing body of research.

Nature as therapist: Integrating permaculture with mindfulness- and acceptance-based therapy in the Danish Healing Forest Garden Nacadia

Nature-based therapy can be considered an umbrella term for a diverse range of psychotherapeutic and allied practices which integrate experiences and activities in nature as therapeutic means. The objective of this article is to describe the theoretical framework for nature-based therapy in a university-founded healing forest garden near Copenhagen, Denmark. The garden will offer a 10-week treatment for people who are on sick leave with stress-related illness. This article focuses on clarifying the integration between the psychotherapeutic and gardening aspects of the nature-based therapy. The psychotherapeutic aspects are based on mindfulness and an acceptance therapy, while the gardening aspects are highly inspired by permacultural principles and methods.

Developing the therapeutic potential of embodied cognition and metaphors in nature-based therapy: lessons from theory to practice

This paper theoretically examines the interplay between cognition and bodily involvement in relation to nature-based therapy and proposes implications for practice. With support from theory within embodied cognition and neuroscientific studies, it is argued that explicit learning is actively supported by bodily involvement with the environment. This argument is placed in the context of ‘nature-based therapy’, which can be perceived as a generic term for treatments with therapeutic use of activities and experiences in natural environments. The paper proposes that the use of metaphors to conceptualize desired therapeutic understanding in connection with the performance of activities in nature-based therapy can support the learning and change process by semantically relating cognition and bodily involvement.

It is not all bad for the grey city – A crossover study on physiological and psychological restoration in a forest and an urban environment

Abstract Today, urbanization presents a challenge to urban planning with regard to creating healthy living environments. The aim of this research is to gain further knowledge of the restorativeness of a best case urban and natural environment: that is a historic down town urban environment and forest environment located in an arboretum. The study has a cross‐over design where 51 (N) female university students are exposed to the two environments through both seated viewing and walking. A mixed method approach is used with both physiological measurements of blood pressure (BP) and heart rate variability (HRV) and psychological measurements of mood change and perceived restorativeness. The HRV results show no significant differences between the two environments, and both environments are found to be more physiologically restorative than being at the office or on the minibus. The results of the psychological measures indicate that the forest walk has a positive effect on mood, while the walk in the urban environment has no effect. The forest environment is also rated more highly with regard to perceived restorativeness than the urban environment. The results support the current research that shows natural environments as more restorative than urban environments. The study also adds to the ongoing debate on healthy urban planning by indicating that architectural and historical qualities may be associated with the physiological well‐being of citizens. HighlightsNo difference was found in HRV between the forest and urban environment.The forest environment was perceived as more restorative than the urban environment.Significant correlations were found between perceived restorativeness and mood.

'Everything just seems much more right in nature': How veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder experience nature-based activities in a forest therapy garden.

Available evidence shows that an increasing number of soldiers are seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder. The post-traumatic stress disorder condition has big emotional and psychological consequences for the individual, his/her family and the society. Little research has been done to explore the impact of nature-based therapy for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder although there is a growing amount of evidence pointing towards positive outcome. This qualitative study aims to achieve a deeper understanding of this relationship from the veteran’s perspective. Eight Danish veterans participated in a 10-week nature-based therapy. Qualitative interviews were conducted and analysed using the interpretative phenomenological method. The results indicated that the veterans have achieved tools to use in stressful situations and experienced an improvement in their post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.

A Long-Term Follow-Up of the Efficacy of Nature-Based Therapy for Adults Suffering from Stress-Related Illnesses on Levels of Healthcare Consumption and Sick-Leave Absence: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Stress-related illnesses are a growing health problem in the Western world; which also has economic significance for society. As a consequence; there is a growing demand for effective treatments. The study investigates the long-term efficacy of the Nacadia® nature-based therapy (NNBT) by comparing it to the efficacy of a validated cognitive behavioral therapy, called STreSS. The study is designed as a randomized controlled trial in which 84 participants are randomly allocated between the treatments. Long-term efficacy is investigated through data extracts from the national database of Statistics Denmark on the sick leave and the health-care consumption. The results show that both the NNBT and the STreSS lead to a significant decrease in number of contacts with a general practitioner in the period from twelve months prior to treatment to twelve months after treatment; and, a significant decrease in long-term sick leave from the month prior to treatment to twelve months after treatment. The positive long-term effects provide validation for the NNBT as an efficient treatment of stress-related illnesses.

Environmental strategies of affect regulation and their associations with subjective well-being

Environmental strategies of affect regulation refer to the use of natural and urban socio-physical settings in the service of regulation. We investigated the perceived use and efficacy of environmental strategies for regulation of general affect and sadness, considering them in relation to other affect regulation strategies and to subjective well-being. Participants from Australia, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, India, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden (N = 507) evaluated the frequency of use and perceived efficacy of affect regulation strategies using a modified version of the Measure of Affect Regulation Styles (MARS). The internet survey also included the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), emotional well-being items from the RAND 36-Item Health Survey, and a single-item measure of perceived general health. Environmental regulation formed a separate factor of affect regulation in the exploratory structural equation models (ESEM). Although no relations of environmental strategies with emotional well-being were found, both the perceived frequency of use and efficacy of environmental strategies were positively related to perceived health. Moreover, the perceived efficacy of environmental strategies was positively related to life satisfaction in regulating sadness. The results encourage more explicit treatment of environmental strategies in research on affect regulation.

Evidence-Based Playground Design: Lessons Learned from Theory to Practice

Abstract This paper develops, explores and evaluates an evidence-based approach to playground design, with a public park playground (playlab Cph) in Copenhagen as a case study. In the increasingly urbanised world, park playgrounds are valuable places that support healthy child development by providing opportunities for play, nature exploration and sensory stimulation. As it is increasingly expected that designers base their decisions on research evidence, there is a need to develop approaches to facilitate this, which also applies to playground design. The design of PlayLab Cph was based on relevant evidence, best practice, and the theories of Affordances and Behaviour Settings. A post-occupancy evaluation was carried out through a questionnaire survey and observation studies, which revealed that a majority of the potential evidence-based affordances were actualised, and that the application of the theories resulted in a more informed design. Although preliminary, this evidence-based approach seems valuable for practitioners and students within the field of playground design.