Forest Healing Research Articles

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

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-γ, 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.

Physiological and psychological effects of forest healing focused on plant fragrance therapy for maladjusted soldiers

Background and objective This study verified the physiological and psychological effects of plant fragrance therapy to analyze whether the therapy has a forest healing effect on maladjusted soldiers. Methods This study was conducted from March 14 to May 31, 2020 according to the Green Camp curriculum for 2 weeks per recruit class. Thus, plant fragrance therapy was implemented twice each for three recruit classes. Each session of the program was carried out for 4 hours from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The venue was the garden within the camp and the forest nearby. Forest healing activities using plant fragrances were led by 1 forest education specialist and 1 assistant. The effects of plant fragrance therapy for maladjusted soldiers were analzed analyzed by quantifying physiological and psychological changes through measuring brain waves and stress levels before and after the therapy. Results As a result of analyzing BRQ and SQ to determine the physiological and psychological healing effect of plant fragrance therapy, both the left and right brain showed higher BRQ and SQ after the therapy with statistical significance. This indicates that plant fragrance therapy on maladjusted soldiers helped positively stabilize their negative psychological and behavioral dispositions, and stabilization of brain waves lowered physical and mental stress and improved self-regulation and immunity. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in ATO. This is the result of analyzing the stress-coping mechanism. Troubleshooting (t = −2.702, df = 61, p = .009), emotional remission (t = −2.173, df = 61, p = .034), pursuit of help (t = −3.286), df = 61, p = .002), and wishful thinking (t = −3.714, df = 61, p < .001) showed statistically significant results. Conclusion Applying plant fragrance therapy to maladjusted soldiers positively stabilized their negative psychological and behavioral dispositions and helped their self-regulation. Thus, plant fragrance therapy has psychological and physical forest healing effect on maladjusted soldiers.

A Study to Understand Preferences of Retirees for Forest Healing Programs

A Study to Understand Preferences of Retirees for Forest Healing Programs

The Effect of Forest Healing Program on Resilience and Depression of Baby Boomer Retirees<sup>1</sup>

The Effect of Forest Healing Program on Resilience and Depression of Baby Boomer Retirees<sup>1</sup>

Qualitative Content Analysis of Forest Healing Experience in Forest Life

Background and objective The purpose of this study is to analyze the case of healing experience for lifestyle and environmental diseases through life and activities in the forest from the perspecitive of critical realism, and how the causal power and mechanism of the healing experience relate to forest healing factors and programs. Methods 93 video data of people who started living in the forest for disease treatment were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis method from the perspective of critical realism. Categories for analysis include general categories (age, duration, occupation, disease name), forest therapy categories (climate therapy, plant therapy, water therapy, diet therapy, kinesiotherapy, psychotherapy), and other categories (ecology, learning and management, life tools), etc., and the unit of analysis is the context unit. Results 1) The diseases that motivated life in the forest were digestive system diseases, lung diseases, cardiovascular diseases, endocrine system diseases, and various lifestyle-related diseases and environmental diseases in similar proportions. This indicates that forest life does not have specificity to respond to specific diseases, but provides treatment and recovery for all lifestyle and environmental diseases. 2) Among the forest therapies, climate therapy and plant therapy are related to the climatic and residential environment in the forest where ‘natural persons’ live. And others such as water therapy, diet therapy, kinesiotherapy, psychotherapy indicate the change from the lifestyle that caused the disease to the lifestyle for treatment and recovery. Conclusion Life and activities in the forest provide an environment for treatment and recovery in which the healing principles such as aromatherapy, nutritional and dietary therapy, kinesiotherapy, and emotional psychotherapy are integrated in the ‘real world’.

A Study on the Improvement Plan of the Creation and Management of HEALING FORESTS

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the current status of the creation and management of healing forests in Korea to derive the improvement plan. Methods: Based on the hypothesis that there will be differences in the creation and management of each operator, 10 items including annual status, regional status, location standard, size, facility status, number of visitors, number of program users, management entity, construction cost, and operation status were investigated and analyzed. Results: The number of healing forests has been steadily increasing, and the area of composition has been found to be large. By region, Jeolla-do has the largest number of places, 7 places (25%), Gyeonggi-do (30%) has the largest area of composition, and the average area of composition is more than twice as large as the national public. In the forest species of healing by location criteria, coniferous forests were preferred, and trees of age class IV had higher frequency and area. There is no difference in the accessibility of each operator to healing forests by size and facilities, and there were many healing forest paths as forest healing facilities. The average number of program users and average visitors per year has been decreasing since 2015. According to the status of each management entity, the Western Regional Forest Service manages the most with a total of nine national and seven public places, while the Eastern Regional Forest Service manages two places. The average creation cost of the healing forest is KRW 4.5 billion/place for the national healing forest, KRW 6.4 billion/place for the public healing forest, and in the case of the average creation cost per area, KRW 0.6 billion/ha for the national healing forest and KRW 0.9 billion/ha for the public healing forest, and the national healing forest is lower. In the case of operation status, the usage fees are in the order of public, national, and private, and the National Forest Service is operated by the Korea Forest Welfare Institute under the Korea Forest Service. Conclusion: ‘Based on the improvement plan for healing forest creation and management, the evaluation items for healing forest creation and operation to introduce a certification system for healing forests should be presented, research on revitalization measures should be conducted, and many people should benefit from forest welfare services.

Forest Therapy Alone or with a Guide: Is There a Difference between Self-Guided Forest Therapy and Guided Forest Therapy Programs?

There are generally two types of forest therapy. One is to walk or view the forest alone without a guide, and the other is to be accompanied by a guide. This study aimed to investigate the healing factors and health benefits of self-guided forest therapy and guided forest therapy programs and examine the differences in characteristics between interventions. Thirty-seven undergraduate students participated in a randomized experiment (19 in the self-guided forest therapy and 18 in the guided forest therapy program). Data were collected from 111 self-reported essays after each intervention (three essays per person). Results revealed that the forest healing factors contained four categories in common: auditory element, visual element, tactile element, and olfaction element. Forest therapy’s health benefits included five categories in common: change of mind and body, introspection, change of emotion, cognitive change, and social interaction. Among the typical differences, the self-guided forest therapy group mentioned more keywords related to introspection than the guided forest therapy program group. On the other hand, the guided forest therapy program group mentioned more keywords associated with the change of emotion and social interaction than the self-guided forest therapy. Our findings show that self-guided forest therapy provides an opportunity for self-reflection to focus on and think about one’s inner self. On the other hand, guided forest therapy programs provide positive emotional changes and promoting social bonds through interaction with others. Therefore, because the effects that can be obtained vary depending on the type of forest therapy, participants can utilize forest healing to suit the desired outcomes.

The Effects of Forest Healing Anti-aging Program on Physical Health of the Elderly: A Pilot Study

Ji-Eun Baek, PT, MS⋅Ho-jin Shin, PT, MS⋅Sung-Hyeon Kim, PT, MS⋅Jae Yeon Kim, PT⋅ Sujin Park, PhD⋅Si-Yoon Sung, PhD⋅Hwi-young Cho, PT, PhD⋅Suk-Chan Hahm, PT, PhD,⋅ Min-Goo Lee, MD, PhD. KSPM 2021;16:81-90. https://doi.org/10.13066/kspm.2021.16.2.81

Prediction of Natural Volatile Organic Compounds Emitted by Bamboo Groves in Urban Forests

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, people in countries around the world including the United Kingdom, Denmark, Canada, and South Korea are seeking physiological and psychological healing by visiting forests as stay-at-home orders continue. NVOCs (natural volatile organic compounds), a major healing factor of forests, have several positive effects on human health. This study specifically researched the NVOC characteristics of bamboo groves. This study revealed that α-pinene, 3-carene, and camphene were observed to emit the most, and the largest amount of NVOC emitted was seen during the early morning and late afternoon within bamboo groves. Furthermore, NVOC emission was found to have normal correlations with temperature and humidity, and inverse correlations with solar radiation, PAR (photosynthetically active radiation), and wind speed. A regression analysis conducted to predict the effect of microclimate factors on NVOC emissions resulted in a regression equation with 82.9% explanatory power, finding that PAR, temperature, and humidity had a significant effect on NVOC emission prediction. In conclusion, this study investigated NVOC emission of bamboo groves, examined the relationship between NVOC emissions and microclimate factors, and derived a prediction equation of NVOC emissions to figure out bamboo groves’ forest healing effects. These results are expected to provide a basis for establishing more effective forest healing programs in bamboo groves.

도시숲 활용 산림치유 프로그램이 여성노인의 골격근량, 내장지방량 및 우울에 미치는 영향 1) - 안성 비봉산을 사례로 -

This study was conducted to check whether the activities of forest healing programs in urban forests have changed the skeletal muscle mass, visceral fat, and depression of elderly women living in cities. The subjects of the study were elderly women aged 60 or older living in A-city, Gyeonggi-do, consisting of a total of 33 people, 21 in the experimental group and 12 in the control group. The forest healing program was conducted once a week and total of eight times for two hours each time. Before and after the program, bone muscle mass and Visceral Fat were measured using the Inbody 720 (Biospace, Korea), and the depression scale was used. The average age of subjects in the experimental group was 60.3±9.4 and the average age of the control group was 63.6±5.8. After participation in the forest healing program, the Skeletal Muscle Mass changes in subjects showed significant changes from 2.52 before participation to 2.47 after participation, but the control group was not a significant change from 1.64 to 1.99. The change in visceral fat volume was significant for subjects in the experimental group, from 34.27 before participation to 31.64 after participation, but The control group was not a significant change from 35.02 to 33.18. The change in depression in the experimental group showed significant changes from 5.10 before participation to 3.85 after participation. It was confirmed that forest healing program activities using urban forests had a positive effect on Skeletal Muscle Mass and gut fat, which are factors for chronic diseases in elderly women, and depression in the experimental group was also reduced. Through the participation of regular and continuous forest healing programs, we would like to propose them as one basic data that contributes to the promotion of the physical health and psychological health of the elderly, such as depression.

Effects of the Forest Healing Program on Depression, Cognition, and the Autonomic Nervous System in the Elderly with Cognitive Decline

Effects of the Forest Healing Program on Depression, Cognition, and the Autonomic Nervous System in the Elderly with Cognitive Decline

Are Forest healing programs useful in promoting children’s emotional welfare? The Interpersonal relationships of children in foster care

Forest healing programs are conducted for children in foster care, as their potentially turbulent environments may hinder development—particularly that of healthy interpersonal relationship skills. This study analyzed the impacts of forest healing programs on children’s psychological health. These programs include activities that utilize a variety of natural components including aroma, landscape, and others to raise the immunity of the human body and to promote health. The program was run 72 times from 2015 to 2018 at National Forest Therapy sites. Self-reported surveys were administered before and after the program, and were used to determine the participants’ interpersonal relationship skills and analyze the overall effectiveness of the program. The highest possible score on the survey was 50, indicating healthy interpersonal relationships. The results show a statistically significant overall increase of 1.77 points on average from 2015 to 2018. This study finds that forest healing programs can function as social promotion programs that utilize the forest’s beneficial environment and the city’s abundant resources, and that they represent an effective step toward improving the well-being of children in urban areas.

Buddhism and Forest Healing

본 연구자는 숲 치유 인자를 이용한 숲 치유 효과와 불교 숲 치유환경을 통해 치유관계를 모색하고자 한다. 대부분의 숲은 종교와 밀접한 관계를 맺고 있다. 이는 숲의 영성적 본질과 역할에 기인하는데, 특히 불교는 그 어떤 종교보다도 숲과 깊은 인연이 있다. 불교 수행은 조용하고 산란하지 않은 곳에서 이루어지며, 최적의 장소가 숲이었다. 본 연구의 진행 방법은 숲 치유에 대한 이론적 고찰을 통해 숲과 인간관계를 파악하고 치유 효과에 대하여 열거하며, 숲 치유 프로그램을 제시할 것이다. 본 연구의 목적은 숲속 환경에서의 숲 치유 효과를 분석하고 불교 숲 치유기재와 연결시켜 치유 효과를 극대화하는데 있다. 숲 속 수행승(Forest monk)들은 탐욕과 분노, 어리석음에서 비롯되는 번뇌를 떨어내기 위한 방법을 숲의 자연환경을 통해 해결해왔다. 숲 치유 인자 들 중 피톤치드와 산소는 불교 수행법인 호흡 명상법에 적극적 활용할 수있으며. 불교 수행법인 좌선과 걷기명상법 그리고 오감명상을 통해 번뇌, 망상, 초조, 불안, 공포 등을 제거하여 정서적 안정에 기여할 수 있을 것이다.

A Needs Analysis for the Development of Forest Healing Programs: Focusing on Cancer Patients

A Needs Analysis for the Development of Forest Healing Programs: Focusing on Cancer Patients

도시공원을 활용한 산림치유프로그램이 고령노인의 우울과 기억감퇴에 미치는 영향 -곤지암 도자공원을 사례로

본 연구는 생활권내 도시공원을 활용한 산림치유프로그램이 고령노인의 우울과 주관적 기억감퇴에 미치는 영향을 알아보고자 하였다. 연구대상자는 경기도 K시에 거주중인 75세 이상의 여성 고령노인 10명이었으며 주1회 2시간씩 총 7회의 산림치유 프로그램을 실시하였다. 본 프로그램의 효과를 검증하기 위해 단축형 노인우울 척도(GDSSF-K)와 주관적 기억감퇴 설문지(SMCQ)를 프로그램 전후에 평가하였다. 자료 분석에는 SPSS ver 18.0을 사용하였으며 Shapiro-Wilk test로 정규성을, Wilcoxon signed rank test로 통계검증을 실시하였다. 분석결과 도시공원에서 산림치유프로그램이 고령노인의 우울 완화에 긍정적인 효과가 있음을 확인했다. 이는 지역사회 노인을 위한 복지 서비스에 유용하게 이용될 수 있을 것으로 사료된다.

Analysis of the Healing Effect of Negative Stress Induced Emotions According to Forest Healing Environment Types: Season, Number of Visits

스트레스를 해소하기 위해 기업들은 많은 교육프로그램을 통해 많은 노력을 기울이고 있다. 본 연구는 현대인의 스트레스를 유발시키는 감정(불안감, 우울감, 분노감, 짜증감, 불쾌감)을 저감시키기 위한 기업들의 많은 교육프로그램 중 산림치유 환경유형(치유센터 프로그램, 치유데크로드, 금강송전망대, 솔향치유숲길, 명상정원, 운동공간, 음악환경, 동물원)의 산림치유프로그램과 계절별, 산에 가는 횟수에 따른 분석을 통해 가장 많은 스트레스를 저감시키는 요소를 분석함으로서 현대인의 스트레스를 감소시키는 산림치유 기업교육프로그램 개발을 통해 기업의 성과를 극대화하는데 도움을 주고자 본 연구는 총 3가지로 진행하게 되었다. 본 연구를 통해 첫째, 스트레스 유발감정에 따른 산림치유 환경유형 분석결과 솔향치유숲길에서 불안·우울·분노·짜증·불쾌가 가장 감소되는 것으로 나타났다. 둘째, 스트레스 유발감정을 치유하기 위한 계절에 따른 산림치유 환경유형의 치유효과 분석결과 스트레스 유발감정 중 불안과 불쾌를 감소시키기 위한 산림치유 환경유형은 봄·가을보다 여름·겨울에 실행하였을 때 우울과 분노, 짜증을 감소시키기 위해서는 여름·겨울보다 봄·가을에 실행하였을 때 스트레스 유발감정 저감효과가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 셋째, 스트레스 유발감정을 치유하기 위한 산에 가는 횟수에 따른 산림치유 환경유형의 치유효과 분석결과는 스트레스 유발감정 불안·우울·분노·짜증·불쾌가 산에 가는 횟수에 있어서 거의 안 가는 것보다 산림치유환경에 1년 1회 이상 방문하였을 때 더욱 감소하는 것으로 나타났다.To relieve stress, companies are putting a lot of effort through many educational programs. This study is a forest healing program (Healing Center Program, Healing Deck Road, Geumgang Transmission Observatory, Solhyang Healing) among many educational programs of companies to reduce the emotions (anxiety, depression, anger, irritability, and discomfort) that cause stress in modern people. Forest healing company education program that reduces the stress of modern people by analyzing the factors that reduce the most stress through analysis according to the type of space in the forest road, meditation garden, exercise space, music environment, zoo) In order to help maximize the company s performance through development, this study was conducted in three ways. Through this study, first, as a result of analyzing the forest healing program according to the stress-inducing emotion, it was found that the anxiety, depression, anger, irritation, and discomfort were most reduced in the Solhyang Healing Forest Road. Second, as a result of analyzing the healing effect of the seasonal forest healing program to heal stress-induced emotions, the forest healing program to reduce anxiety and discomfort during stress-induced emotions was characterized by depression and anger when executed in summer and winter rather than in spring and autumn. In order to reduce irritation, it was found that there was an effect of reducing stress-induced emotions when executed in spring and autumn rather than in summer and winter. Third, the result of analyzing the healing effect of the forest healing program according to the number of times to go to the mountain to cure the stress-induced emotion is that the forest-healing environment is less than the stress-induced emotion of anxiety, depression, anger, irritation, and unpleasantness. When it was visited more than once a year, it decreased.

산림치유프로그램이 암환자의 건강증진에 미치는 효과 -생리적 특성과 심리적 특성을 중심으로-

암환자는 생리적ㆍ심리적 어려움을 경험하는데 특히 심리적 문제는 생존율, 삶의 질, 암 치료에 영향을 미침으로 다양한 심리치유 프로그램들이 시도되고 있다. 하지만 전국 40여개의 치유의 숲에서는 특수질환인 암환자 대상 프로그램이 상시 진행되고 있음에도 불구하고 프로그램 효과검증에 대한 연구는 미흡한 상태이다. 본 연구에서는 보건소와 연계하여 산림치유프로그램이 암환자의 생리적ㆍ심리적 어려움에 미치는 영향을 체계적으로 살펴보고, 이를 통해 구조화된 프로그램 개발을 위한 논리적 근거를 마련하고자 한다. H군에서 편의표집한 24명 중 무작위로 실험집단 12명 통제집단 12명으로 진행되었다. 연구 결과는 산림치유 프로그램이 암환자의 생리적 특성에서 실험집단이 총콜레스테롤과 수축기 혈압에서 통계적으로 유의미한 변화가 있었다. 심리적 특성에서는 통제집단과 실험집단 모두 통계적으로 유의미한 긍정적 변화가 있었지만 실험집단에서 더 높은 변화가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 연구결과는 향후 암환자들의 건강증진을 위해 디스트레스 감소를 위한 산림치유 프로그램 개발과 다양한 대상자에 맞는 맞춤형 치유프로그램 개발이 필요함을 시사한다.

The Stress-Reducing Effects of Forest Healing Activities in Maladjusted Military Force Members

The Stress-Reducing Effects of Forest Healing Activities in Maladjusted Military Force Members

A Buddhist Study on the Effect of Forest Healing

A Buddhist Study on the Effect of Forest Healing

산림치유 프로그램 공간유형에 따른 스트레스 유발감정의 치유효과 분석

This study identifies the specific emotions (anxiety, depression, anger, irritability, and discomfort) that cause stress in modern people. This study was conducted to help maximize the performance of a company by reducing stress of modern people by studying what stress-inducing emotions are reduced among Solhyang Healing Forest Road, Meditation Garden, Exercise Space, Music Environment, and Zoo). This study conducted a questionnaire survey by extracting samples based on demographic characteristics of 70 people. First, in this study, frequency analysis was performed on the demographic characteristics of the subjects. Second, Cronbachn'α was calculated to check the internal consistency of anxiety, depression, anger, irritability, and discomfort. Third, in order to investigate differences in stress-induced emotions in the spatial type of forest healing program, repeated ANOVA was performed. As a result of this study, among the four stress-induced emotions of modern people (anxiety, depression, anger, irritability, and discomfort), the healing center program, healing desk road, exercise space, music environment, and zoo specifically reduced discomfort and anger, and Geumgangsong The Observation Deck, Solhyang Healing Forest Road, and Meditation Garden specifically reduced discomfort and irritation, and 8 types of forest healing program spaces (Healing Center Program, Healing Deck Road, Geumgang Song Observatory, Solhyang Healing Forest Path, Meditation Garden, Exercise Space, Music Environment, Zoo ) Has shown that among the four stress-induced emotions (anxiety, depression, anger, irritability, and discomfort), the most unpleasant feeling is reduced.