Physiological and Psychological Assessments for the Establishment of Evidence-Based Forest Healing Programs

Sujin Park, Yeji Choi, Geonwoo Kim, Eunsoo Kim, Soojin Kim and Domyung Paek
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Sujin Park: Future Forest Strategy Department, Forest Human Service Division, National Institute of Forest Science, Seoul 02455, Korea
Yeji Choi: Future Forest Strategy Department, Forest Human Service Division, National Institute of Forest Science, Seoul 02455, Korea
Geonwoo Kim: Future Forest Strategy Department, Forest Human Service Division, National Institute of Forest Science, Seoul 02455, Korea
Eunsoo Kim: Future Forest Strategy Department, Forest Human Service Division, National Institute of Forest Science, Seoul 02455, Korea
Soojin Kim: Future Forest Strategy Department, Forest Human Service Division, National Institute of Forest Science, Seoul 02455, Korea
Domyung Paek: Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-42

Abstract: This study aimed to establish a health and medical foundation for forest healing programs and provide a basis for developing an evaluation system for such programs. While the number of visitors to forests and interest in forest healing effects are increasing, few studies have examined the various indicators of the persistent changes in forest healing effects. Therefore, this study conducted pre-, post-, and follow-up experiments on 87 health and clinical indicators in a sample of 88 adolescent participants. The relationships between pre-, post-, and follow-up experiment results for each indicator were analyzed. Of the 87 indicators, 46 showed significant changes, including systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, cholesterol, serotonin, vitamin D, CD16+CD56 count, interferon-?, resilience, and self-esteem. The findings are significant for studying diverse participants and indicators and lay the foundation for developing forest healing programs by clarifying aspects such as the indicators suitable for short-term observation versus the indicators requiring long-term observation. Based on these analyses, the results of this study are expected to be useful when conducting research to establish an evidence-based forest healing program in the future.

Keywords: forest healing; forest healing program; forest therapy; physiological effect; psychological effect; follow-up survey; long-term observation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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