Per Johnsson
Senior lecturer
Medical Nature-Based Rehabilitation Program for Individuals with Exhaustion Syndrome : Changes in Quality of Life, Exhaustion Symptoms and Overall Health
Author
Summary, in English
Stress-related health problems have increased sharply over the last two decades and have become a serious issue at all levels of society. In the Jönköping Region in southern Sweden, a nature-based rehabilitation (NBR) program for adults with Exhaustion Syndrome has been developed and then implemented into the Swedish National Healthcare System. The main aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of this NBR-program. This was achieved by examining patients’ quality of life, exhaustion symptoms and overall health using self-assessment instruments, comparing the results before participation to immediately after, three months after and six months after. With a sample size of 67 participants, the results show a statistically significant improvement for all points. From a public health perspective, and with background knowledge of the nature of the patient group under treatment, the studied program would appear to be effective and economic, having a satisfied patient group as well as a favourable comparison with the outcomes of other research programs. Although the results are promising, as this is a naturalistic field study, there is no control group, and further research is encouraged. We suggest randomised controlled studies, longitudinal studies and investigation of mediators.
Department/s
- Department of Psychology
Publishing year
2023
Language
English
Publication/Series
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume
20
Issue
17
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
MDPI AG
Topic
- Health Care Service and Management, Health Policy and Services and Health Economy
Keywords
- Exhaustion Syndrome
- nature-assisted interventions
- nature-based rehabilitation
- stress
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1661-7827