Measuring Nature Contact: A Narrative Review

Isabel Holland, Nicole V. DeVille, Matthew H. E. M. Browning, Ryan M. Buehler, Jaime E. Hart, J. Aaron Hipp, Richard Mitchell, Donald A. Rakow, Jessica E. Schiff, Mathew P. White, Jie Yin and Peter James
Additional contact information
Isabel Holland: Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Nicole V. DeVille: Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Matthew H. E. M. Browning: Department of Park, Recreation, and Tourism Management, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
Ryan M. Buehler: Division of Cancer Genetics and Prevention, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Jaime E. Hart: Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
J. Aaron Hipp: Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Richard Mitchell: MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G3 7HR, UK
Donald A. Rakow: Section of Horticulture, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Jessica E. Schiff: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Mathew P. White: European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR1 3HD, UK
Jie Yin: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Peter James: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-15

Abstract: While many studies suggest evidence for the health benefits of nature, there is currently no standardized method to measure time spent in nature or nature contact, nor agreement on how best to define nature contact in research. The purpose of this review is to summarize how nature contact has been measured in recent health research and provide insight into current metrics of exposure to nature at individual and population scales. The most common methods include surrounding greenness, questionnaires, and global positioning systems (GPS) tracking. Several national-level surveys exist, though these are limited by their cross-sectional design, often measuring only a single component of time spent in nature, and poor links to measures of health. In future research, exposure assessment combining the quantifying (e.g., time spent in nature and frequency of visits to nature) and qualifying (e.g., greenness by the normalized difference of vegetation index (NDVI) and ratings on perception by individuals) aspects of current methods and leveraging innovative methods (e.g., experience sampling methods, ecological momentary assessment) will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the health effects of nature exposure and inform health policy and urban planning.

Keywords: green space; greenness; nature; natural environment; nature exposure; exposure assessment; built environment; health; nature contact; nature dose (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4092/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4092/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:8:p:4092-:d:535200

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().