IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i12p4348-d372880.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of Forest Therapy on Health Promotion among Middle-Aged Women: Focusing on Physiological Indicators

Author

Listed:
  • Bum-Jin Park

    (Department of Environment and Forest Resources, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea)

  • Chang-Seob Shin

    (Department of Forest Science, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk 28644, Korea)

  • Won-Sop Shin

    (Department of Forest Science, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk 28644, Korea)

  • Chung-Yeub Chung

    (Institute of Mental Health, Seoul 03156, Korea)

  • Si-Hyung Lee

    (Healience Seonmaeul, Hongcheon, Gangwon 25104, Korea)

  • Dong-Jun Kim

    (Department of Forest Science, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk 28644, Korea)

  • Youn-Hee Kim

    (Center for Contemplative Science, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Korea)

  • Chang-Eun Park

    (National Center for Forest Therapy, Gimcheon, Gyeongbuk 39695, Korea)

Abstract

Women experience more stress in middle age than in other life stages, and health in middle age is vital, because it influences the quality of life in old age. In this study, the effects of a forest therapy program on physiological changes in 53 middle-aged women (divided into two groups) who lived in the city were examined. One group participated in a three-day program in the forest, followed by three days in the city; the other group participated in a three-day program in the city, followed by three days in the forest. Forest experiments were conducted in a “healing forest,” and urban experiments were conducted near a university campus. Blood tests were performed to evaluate the physiological effects of forest therapy. Differences in serotonin levels and vitamin D levels were verified before and after the forest (experimental group) and urban (control group) programs through paired t -tests. Statistically significant increases in serotonin levels were noted for participants in the forest program; vitamin D levels also increased, but not by statistically significant values. The findings of this study verify that forest therapy programs promote health among middle-aged women, and may prevent disease and improve quality of life.

Suggested Citation

  • Bum-Jin Park & Chang-Seob Shin & Won-Sop Shin & Chung-Yeub Chung & Si-Hyung Lee & Dong-Jun Kim & Youn-Hee Kim & Chang-Eun Park, 2020. "Effects of Forest Therapy on Health Promotion among Middle-Aged Women: Focusing on Physiological Indicators," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-15, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:12:p:4348-:d:372880
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/12/4348/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/12/4348/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Beery & K. Ingemar Jönsson & Johan Elmberg, 2015. "From Environmental Connectedness to Sustainable Futures: Topophilia and Human Affiliation with Nature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-18, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Daniela Huber & Johanna Freidl & Christina Pichler & Michael Bischof & Martin Kiem & Renate Weisböck-Erdheim & Gabriella Squarra & Vincenzo De Nigris & Stefan Resnyak & Marcel Neberich & Susanna Bordi, 2023. "Long-Term Effects of Mountain Hiking vs. Forest Therapy on Physical and Mental Health of Couples: A Randomized Controlled Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-20, January.
    2. Sujin Park & Yeji Choi & Geonwoo Kim & Eunsoo Kim & Soojin Kim & Domyung Paek, 2021. "Physiological and Psychological Assessments for the Establishment of Evidence-Based Forest Healing Programs," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-42, September.
    3. Hansen Li & Xing Zhang & Shilin Bi & Haowei Liu & Yang Cao & Guodong Zhang, 2021. "Green Exercise: Can Nature Video Benefit Isometric Exercise?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-12, May.
    4. Soojeong Yang & Hyunlye Kim, 2022. "Effects of a Walking Exercise-Focused Health Promotion Program for Middle-Aged Women in the Korean Community," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-14, November.
    5. Jiyune Yi & Seul Gee Kim & Taegyu Khil & Minja Shin & Jin-Hee You & Sookja Jeon & Gue Hong Park & Ah Young Jeong & Youngsuwn Lim & Kahye Kim & Jingun Kim & Byunghoon Kang & Jueun Lee & Jeong Hwan Park, 2021. "Psycho-Electrophysiological Benefits of Forest Therapies Focused on Qigong and Walking with Elderly Individuals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-16, March.
    6. Yunsoo Kim & Yoonhee Choi & Hyeyun Kim, 2022. "Positive Effects on Emotional Stress and Sleep Quality of Forest Healing Program for Exhausted Medical Workers during the COVID-19 Outbreak," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-10, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Enrique A. Mundaca & Mariana Lazzaro-Salazar & Lucas Pujol-Cols & María Teresa Muñoz-Quezada, 2021. "The Emotional and Cognitive Scale of the Human–Nature Relationship (ECS-HNR)," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440211, March.
    2. Sergi Nuss-Girona & Joan Vicente Rufí & Guillem Canaleta, 2020. "50 Years of Environmental Activism in Girona, Catalonia: From Case Advocacy to Regional Planning," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-21, May.
    3. Kyung Hee Oh & Won Sop Shin & Tae Gyu Khil & Dong Jun Kim, 2020. "Six-Step Model of Nature-Based Therapy Process," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-16, January.
    4. Min-Seong Kim & Jinwon Kim & Brijesh Thapa, 2018. "Influence of Environmental Knowledge on Affect, Nature Affiliation and Pro-Environmental Behaviors among Tourists," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-16, August.
    5. Mundaca, Enrique A. & Lazzaro-Salazar, Mariana & Pujol-Cols, Lucas J. & Muñoz-Quezada, María Teresa, 2021. "The Emotional and Cognitive Scale of the Human-Nature Relationship (ECS-HNR)," Nülan. Deposited Documents 3504, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Centro de Documentación.
    6. Xueting Tong & Zhanwei Wu, 2020. "An IoT-based Sharing Plant Factory System for Nature Connectedness Improvement in Built Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-18, May.
    7. Yan Yang & Jing Hu & Fengjie Jing & Bang Nguyen, 2018. "From Awe to Ecological Behavior: The Mediating Role of Connectedness to Nature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-14, July.
    8. Iulian Dincă & Dragoș Dărăbăneanu & Ionuț Mihai Oprea, 2021. "Collective and Social Representations on Nature and Environment: Social Psychology Investigation in Rural Areas," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-21, December.
    9. Helen Santiago Fink, 2016. "Human-Nature for Climate Action: Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-21, March.
    10. Jasper Knight, 2022. "Presence, Absence, Transience: The Spatiotemporalities of Sand," Geographies, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-12, October.
    11. Agnieszka Kępkowicz & Halina Lipińska, 2021. "Landscapes of Prosperity, Youth, Femininity, Temptation, Friendship, Transition, Money, and Survival in Terms of Evolutionary Psychology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-19, October.
    12. Julie H. Dean & Danielle F. Shanahan & Robert Bush & Kevin J. Gaston & Brenda B. Lin & Elizabeth Barber & Lara Franco & Richard A. Fuller, 2018. "Is Nature Relatedness Associated with Better Mental and Physical Health?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-18, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:12:p:4348-:d:372880. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.