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Forests
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Forests and Human Health: Effects on Acute and Chronic Illness,...
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Forests and Human Health: Effects on Acute and Chronic Illness, and Public Health

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Forestry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2025) | Viewed by 4402

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Amy Miner Ross

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Nursing, Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), 3455 S. W. US Veterans Hospital Road, Portland, OR 97239, USA
Interests: simulated forest immersion therapy; immune responses; SFIT; health systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Forests and spending time in green spaces are a new focus in health promotion. Health promotion may be a long-term or short-term goal in terms of helping people with chronic illnesses or creating opportunities for relaxation and healing affecting acute illnesses, respectively. Forests are composed of forest aerosols and visual experiences and allow the participant to “bathe” in the environment (known as Shinrin-Yoku or forest bathing), which can affect both chronic and acute health outcomes. The vast majority of research and review articles are related to how forests affect healthy people. A research agenda published in 2017 includes several areas of focus for advancing research related to green spaces and forests. There is a lack of research about how forests affect those who are not healthy. Health care providers seek to use forest or "park prescription" that may include exercise, although this may not be helpful for people with chronic illness due to the exercise component. The literature related to forest exposure and chronic or acute illness is limited, specifically how forests influence chronic and acute illness, thereby impacting public health.

In this Special Issue of Forests, we invite submissions that examine the impact that forests and green spaces have on people with chronic and acute illnesses throughout their lives, advancing our knowledge in this area.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Chronic pain;
  • Depression, anxiety, and stress;
  • Diabetes and other cardiac risk factors;
  • Immune system alterations;
  • Cancer.

Dr. Amy Miner Ross
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • forests
  • greenspaces
  • forest bathing
  • Shinrin-Yoku
  • simulated forest immersion
  • chronic illness
  • acute illness

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review, Other

23 pages, 2317 KiB  
Article
Evaluating Nature-Based Versus Generic Physical Activity Programs to Address Chronic Health Conditions: Lessons from an Oregon (USA) Pilot Study
by Randall Bluffstone, Ma Chan, Cort Cox, Melinda M. Davis, Caitlin Dickinson, Sahan T. M. Dissanayake, Jeffrey D. Kline, Citlactli Carrera López, Himani Ojha, Sterling Stokes, Saurabh S. Thosar and Srilakshmi Vedantam
Forests 2025, 16(5), 752; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16050752 (registering DOI) - 28 Apr 2025
Viewed by 82
Abstract
Evidence appears to be building that direct exposure to natural landscapes characterized by significant green cover, such as forests, can help to reduce chronic health conditions such as obesity, stress, hypertension, chronic cardiovascular conditions, depression, anxiety, cancer, and diabetes. One way to encourage [...] Read more.
Evidence appears to be building that direct exposure to natural landscapes characterized by significant green cover, such as forests, can help to reduce chronic health conditions such as obesity, stress, hypertension, chronic cardiovascular conditions, depression, anxiety, cancer, and diabetes. One way to encourage greater exposure to nature may be through the use of nature prescriptions, whereby clinicians formally recommend (or prescribe) time in nature to their patients. Based on self-reported data, we describe the implementation and lessons learned from a pilot field experiment examining the clinical use of nature-based versus conventional exercise recommendations in rural Oregon. We discuss the potential benefits of such recommendations, as well as identify several challenges and opportunities associated with field experiments seeking to evaluate whether nature prescriptions, offered as one part of patients’ overall treatment plans, meaningfully improve human health outcomes in clinical settings. We conclude with several recommendations for practitioners and researchers interested in implementing and evaluating nature-based exercise programs to improve public health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forests and Human Health: Effects on Acute and Chronic Illness, and Public Health)
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16 pages, 3386 KiB  
Article
Effects of Tree Leaf Color on Human Physical and Mental Recovery from a Looking-Up Perspective
by Yuheng You, Saixin Cao, Nian Li, Bingyang Lv, Kai Li, Ping Zhang, Yilin Zhang, Jun Cai and Xi Li
Forests 2024, 15(8), 1404; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15081404 - 10 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1525
Abstract
Numerous studies have demonstrated the benefits of understory spaces and plants on human well-being, but most spatial research has focused on a horizontal perspective. Additionally, there is a lack of research on the effects of plant color on human recovery, especially with respect [...] Read more.
Numerous studies have demonstrated the benefits of understory spaces and plants on human well-being, but most spatial research has focused on a horizontal perspective. Additionally, there is a lack of research on the effects of plant color on human recovery, especially with respect to color proportions. This study classifies the leaf colors of trees in autumn, which are observed from a looking-up perspective, into green, red, and yellow. On this basis, we created monochromatic, two-color, and three-color groups with varying color proportions to assess their recovery effects and preferences. A total of 30 participants participated in this experiment, and their physiological, psychological, and preference-related indicators were evaluated. The results revealed that the following. (1) The two-color groups had the greatest reduction effect on systolic blood pressure. Monochromatic groups were most effective at reducing diastolic blood pressure. The three-color groups had the greatest effect on lowering the pulse rate. (2) EEG responses varied by color type. (3) The three-color groups had the best recovery effects on the psychological measures. (4) The three-color groups were most favored by participants, with a red–yellow–green ratio of 0.2/0.4/0.4 being the most preferred. These findings demonstrate the differing recovery potentials of various leaf color proportions from a looking-up perspective. This study can provide valuable references for the planning and design of urban forest parks, supplementing the theoretical foundation and research framework for evaluating and creating environments that meet people’s restorative needs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forests and Human Health: Effects on Acute and Chronic Illness, and Public Health)
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Review

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17 pages, 3854 KiB  
Review
Preventive Effects of Forest Bathing/Shinrin-Yoku on Cardiovascular Diseases: A Review of Mechanistic Evidence
by Qing Li
Forests 2025, 16(2), 310; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16020310 - 10 Feb 2025
Viewed by 1974
Abstract
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels and include coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, rheumatic heart disease, and other conditions, which are leading causes of global morbidity and mortality. It is very important to establish preventive [...] Read more.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels and include coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, rheumatic heart disease, and other conditions, which are leading causes of global morbidity and mortality. It is very important to establish preventive measures against CVDs, including hypertension. Against this background, forest bathing/shinrin-yoku is attracting attention as a new method of health promotion and disease prevention. Forest bathing/shinrin-yoku is an activity that utilizes the healing effects of forests to promote people’s health and prevent disease by stimulating the five senses, including sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch, through forest visits. Since 2004, many scientific studies on the psychological and physiological effects of forest bathing/shinrin-yoku have been conducted, and many original scientific articles have been published. It has been reported that forest bathing/shinrin-yoku boosted immune system by increasing human natural killer activity and anticancer proteins in natural killer, lowered blood pressure and pulse rate, reduced stress hormones including adrenaline, noradrenaline in urine and cortisol in serum and saliva, increased the parasympathetic nervous activity and decreased the sympathetic nervous activity, improved sleep, reduced the negative emotions and increased positive feelings. In this article, the author reviewed the preventive effects of forest bathing/shinrin-yoku on CVDs from the perspectives of the effects of forest bathing/shinrin-yoku on stress hormones, parasympathetic nervous and sympathetic nervous systems, sleep, blood pressure and heart/pulse rate, and other mechanisms based on the published scientific evidence. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forests and Human Health: Effects on Acute and Chronic Illness, and Public Health)
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Other

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8 pages, 868 KiB  
Brief Report
Environmental Stability of the Simulated Forest Immersion Therapy (SFIT) Intervention
by Amy Miner Ross, Reo J. F. Jones, Kylee Deterding and Ella Rasmussen
Forests 2025, 16(3), 399; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16030399 - 23 Feb 2025
Viewed by 459
Abstract
Background: Shinrin-yoku, forest bathing, has been shown to improve the pain experience in arthritis patients and the immune system in normal healthy patients. Yet, a simulated forest immersion therapy (SFIT) experience has not been tested in these two populations and specifically not in [...] Read more.
Background: Shinrin-yoku, forest bathing, has been shown to improve the pain experience in arthritis patients and the immune system in normal healthy patients. Yet, a simulated forest immersion therapy (SFIT) experience has not been tested in these two populations and specifically not in cancer patients. If SFIT complementary therapy in these two populations progresses, the intervention environment as designed needs to be tested. The purpose of this paper is to describe the SFIT setting and test the stability of the interventional environment. Methods: To operationalize SFIT, a protocol of dose delivery was designed and measured. Ambient and surface room temperatures, relative humidity, ambient ultrafine particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds, specifically terpenes, were measured prior to terpene dose delivery, every 15 min for 1 h, ending with the conclusion of terpene delivery. Results: There were nearly imperceptible differences within session means for ambient and surface room temperatures, relative humidity, ambient ultrafine particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds showing no practical significance. Room temperature and surface temperature were moderately correlated, as expected. Conclusions: The intervention room environment for the diffusion of terpenes remained stable throughout two studies. The next steps proposal to employ SFIT in the home setting is warranted, with precautions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Forests and Human Health: Effects on Acute and Chronic Illness, and Public Health)
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