ABSTRACT

The concept of Green Exercise has now been widely adopted and implies a synergistic health benefit of being active in the presence of nature. This book provides a balanced overview and synthesis text on all aspects of Green Exercise and integrates evidence from many different disciplines including physiology, ecology, psychology, sociology and the environmental sciences, and across a wide range of countries. 

It describes the impact of Green Exercise on human health and well-being through all stages of the lifecourse and covers a wide spectrum from cellular processes such as immune function through to facilitating human behavioural change. It demonstrates the value of Green Exercise for activity and education purposes in both schools and the workplace, as well as its therapeutic properties. Green Exercise is an effective intervention for vulnerable groups and promoting healthy ageing, with activities including wilderness therapy, therapeutic horticulture and the use of forests and water. Chapters also integrate cross-cutting key themes which are relevant to all stages of the lifecourse and have significantly contributed to the Green Exercise research base, such as forest bathing and blue exercise. 

The book also explores the future of Green Exercise, the way in which research can be used to influence green design and planning and how health, social care and environmental agendas can be integrated to enable Green Exercise to be more widely used as a mechanism for improving health.

chapter |16 pages

The seven heresies of Asclepius

How environmental and social context shapes health and well-being

chapter |11 pages

Green exercise for health

A dose of nature

chapter |9 pages

How to get more out of the green exercise experience

Insights from attention restoration theory

chapter |16 pages

Learning on the move

Green exercise for children and young people

chapter |10 pages

Forest bathing in Japan

chapter |11 pages

Healthy parks, healthy people

Evidence from Australia

chapter |14 pages

Green care

Nature-based interventions for vulnerable people

chapter |14 pages

Wilderness and youth at risk

Approaches for positive behaviour change through the outdoors

chapter |11 pages

Green exercise and dementia