The role of social context in physiological and psychological restoration in a forest: Case study of a guided forest therapy program in Taiwan
Journal
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Journal Volume
18
Journal Issue
19
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Abstract
Existing studies have demonstrated the restorative benefits of being in forests. However, most studies have designed participants to engage individually in forest walking and viewing, which neglects the social aspect of conversation. Researchers suggested that social context should be studied in order to have a better understanding how forests foster human health. To this end, we examined the role of social context using three types of forest therapy programs: a guided program, a self-guided program, and a walk alone program. A between-subject, pretest–posttest field experimental design was employed to evaluate restorative effects by measuring the physiological responses and mood states incurred in different forest therapy programs. Our findings showed, that the walk alone group exhibited a significant systolic blood pressure decrease and a significant increase in sympathetic nervous activity; the self-guided group showed a significant increase in heart rate values and significant decreases in systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure; and the guided group revealed a significant decrease in systolic blood pressure. Further, the three forest therapy programs had positive effects on improving mood states, except a nonsignificant vigor–activity increase in the walk alone group. The three programs did not exhibit significant differences in changes of restorative benefits in physiological and psychological measures except for a significant difference in changes in sympathetic nervous activity between the walk alone group and guided group. The results showed the restorative benefits of forest therapy are apparent regardless of the program type. The management team should continue promoting forest therapy for public health by providing different types of forest therapy programs and experiences. ? 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Subjects
Field experimental design
Forest therapy
Guided program
Physiological and psychological responses
Restorative benefits
conservation management
environmental restoration
experimental design
forest health
article
controlled study
diastolic blood pressure
forest
heart rate
human
human experiment
mood
pretest posttest design
public health
social environment
systolic blood pressure
Taiwan
walking
Forests
Heart Rate
Humans
Social Environment
Walking
Type
journal article