Human-nature connectedness and chronic disease: a scoping review
Date
2023
Authors
Conaghty, Sue
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Thesis
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Abstract
Chronic disease is placing a significant burden on health systems that are supporting increasingly urbanised lifestyles. Engaging in healthy lifestyle behaviours — such as being physically active, eating a healthy diet, and not smoking — may help to ease this burden by preventing the development of chronic disease. One psychological attribute that is positively associated with these healthy lifestyle behaviours is human-nature connectedness, which is relatively easy to measure and modify. If people who feel more connected to nature experience less chronic disease, then interventions increasing human-nature connectedness may be important ingredient in upstream public health interventions. In this scoping review, we map empirical studies that measure human-nature connectedness in chronic disease populations and compare them to general populations. We conducted a systematic, comprehensive search of current literature and identified just six studies out of 1490 that included a valid baseline measure of human-nature connectedness in relevant chronic disease populations. Among chronic the few disease populations sampled in these studies, we observed that human-nature connectedness was highly variable compared with normative samples. Our review primarily highlights a significant gap in research on human-nature connectedness in the context of chronic disease and the absence of a clear definition of human-nature connectedness in public health research. We offer a definition of human-nature connectedness that distinguishes psychological connectedness from physical engagement with nature and suggest directions for future research focussed on human-nature connectedness for chronic disease prevention. Keywords: Human-nature connectedness, Chronic disease, Nature-based interventions, Behaviour change, Preventative medicine, Scoping review
School/Discipline
School of Psychology
Dissertation Note
Thesis (Master of Psychology (Health)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 2023
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