SALT LAKE CITY — Decades of published research have shown that exposure to nature, whether it’s a short walk in a city park or spending a few days in the great outdoors, can have a positive impact on mental health.
a Recent Research Researchers at the University of Utah found that spending time in nature — even just 10 minutes — could have short-term benefits for adults with mental illness.
“We know that nature plays an important role in human health, but behavioral health and medical providers often neglect to consider nature as an intervention,” said Joanna Bettman, a professor in the University of Utah School of Social Work and lead author of the study.
The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Ecopsychology, noted that contact with nature “does not require the supervision of a medical professional, is easily accessible and affordable. A focus on increasing human contact with nature has the potential to reduce the burden on overburdened health-care systems around the world.”
Having some exposure to nature in an urban area is beneficial and accessible to most people.
“For people who don’t have the time, resources, interest, community support, or equipment to venture out into nature for days or weeks, spending 10 minutes in urban nature is much less scary, expensive, and time-consuming,” the authors write.
The analysis also showed that outdoor spaces near water, such as rivers, lakes and oceans, and activities such as camping, farming and gardening had the largest positive effects. Urban nature, mountains and forests also had large effects.
“These different types of outdoor spaces all had positive results, highlighting the importance of preserving green spaces in our natural and built environments,” Bettman said in a statement.
Bettman and her multidisciplinary research team analyzed 45 published studies selected from 14,168 studies. The selected studies involved 1,492 adults diagnosed with a mental illness. Some of the experiences investigated included structured therapeutic interventions, while others included nature experiences alone.
Co-authors of the study include Scott Couch and Dorothy Schmaltz of the University of Utah’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism in the College of Health Sciences. The research was funded in part by Nature and Human Health Utah, a nonprofit organization founded by Schmaltz and other Utah faculty to explore ways to bridge the gap between nature and health.
“The relationship between nature and mental health is mixed; interventions vary from study to study and therefore findings vary,” said Schmaltz, who is also dean of the School of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
“The work that Joanna has done here of putting it all together and sifting through it all and really understanding what the overall message is is an invaluable contribution to understanding what this connection is,” Schmaltz said in a statement.
Utah is an ideal setting to further explore how the natural environment impacts human health and well-being, Schmaltz said.
“We’re surrounded by amazing natural resources,” she said, “and with this knowledge of using nature for behavioral and mental health, Utah will become known as a place to use the outdoors for mental, physical and emotional wellness.”
