Читать книгу Natural Environments and Human Health - Alan W Ewert - Страница 9

Today, literally hundreds of millions of people around the globe will engage in some form of contact with natural environments through work, living circumstances, or play and recreation. Some of these contacts will be in the form of high adventure activities, such as white-water rafting or mountain climbing. Others will involve a quiet walk down a winding path or along a wind-swept coastline. Still others will engage in a natural environment through tending to their garden, woodlot, or a local municipal park. In the US alone, there are about 300 million annual visits to national parks with nearly 50% of all Americans participating in at least one form of outdoor recreation in 2010. Many of these participants did so for health-related reasons or incidentally received health benefits while recreating (Outdoor Foundation, 2011). And for many Indigenous and First Nations peoples, the natural environment has provided and continues to provide a critical core to the very rhythm and existence of their lives, with some people practicing subsistence living by attending to the various cycles and rhythms of the natural environment. Many others, some by choice and many without choice, live close to the land in countries where securing water, for example, consumes hours of their days. Without a doubt, there are countless ways in which people and natural environments meet, whether for needed resources such as water, minerals, animals and plants, or simply the enjoyment of interacting, within a leisure or recreational context, with the natural setting.

Whatever their underlying needs, values, and reasons, the interaction between human health and natural environments involves a myriad of experiences, settings, and beliefs and it is this myriad that constitutes the subject of Natural Environments and Human Health. This interaction in terms of health and well-being has never been more important than in this current time. Both individually and collectively, health has become a significant issue of concern for much of the world’s population. Some of these health concerns are because of toxins in nature and others are because of humans’ lack of contact with nature, particularly in many Westernized countries (Pergams and Zaradic, 2008). A sample of the broad reach of these issues involves both psychological as well as ecological factors. Table 1.1 lists major health concerns that are related to natural environments, loosely divided into two major categories: Ecology-based and Physiological/Psychological-based. Thus, one way of thinking about the intersection of natural environments and human health is the way in which the connection impacts health and well-being. Humans’ relationship with the environment is complex and multidimensional. Humans impact the environment and the environment affects humans. In this book a systems approach or lens is used, meaning that everything in the universe (and perhaps beyond) is connected to and affects everything else, and that everything known to humans is in effect one living system of which humans are a part.

Table 1.1. Major health concerns related to natural environments.

Ecology-based	Physiological/Psychological-based
Pesticides	Levels of physical activity
Air/water quality	Perceived general health
Toxic contaminants	Levels of obesity
Ozone depletion/acid rain	Sense of well-being
Excessive noise	Quality of life
Loss of biodiversity	Mood
Environmental degradation	Rates of recuperation
Global warming	Environmental injustice
Exotic disease distribution	Ability to provide focus and attention

In considering our understanding of the relationship between natural environments and human health, two overarching questions serve to guide our thinking about the issue. First, is nature beneficial to human health? That is, can contact with natural environments increase health and well-being? Second, if natural environments are beneficial to human health, how are nature and natural environments beneficial? Other questions that flow from whether and how natural environments impact health include:

• From a research perspective, what issues and concerns should we take into account when developing our understanding about natural environments and health?

• What is the dosage or minimum threshold of effect from different exposures to natural environments?

• Are these effects due to vicarious or confounding issues such as novelty?

• Are the effects of natural environments on human health influenced by variables such as time, perceptions, and background?

• Can structured programs be developed that multiply the effect of natural environments upon human health?

Past research and literature provide a substantial amount of information to answer these questions related to health and natural environments. For example, we now have information about a number of health-related issues especially in relation to time in nature lowering blood pressure, increasing social connections, and increasing longevity. In addition, as illustrated in Table 1.2, there are varying levels of confidence concerning the level and quality of this information. While Table 1.2 presents only a partial listing, what becomes apparent is the growing breadth of information concerning human health and natural environments as well as the depth of that information. In Chapter 7, we provide a more detailed examination of the benefits and outcomes associated with natural environments and human health.

Accordingly, this book seeks to address these influences both by providing an overview of what is currently known about a given phenomenon (such as physical activity in natural environments) as well as discussing some of the past and current theories that seek to explain how these connections actually work. Thus, the book provides a bridge between what we do (individually and collectively) in natural settings and how that action can impact our health, both individually and collectively as the human species. Our hope is that the information in this book will spur students and professionals to want to know more about the connections between human health and the environment on a personal and professional level. We want readers to have useful information and to be part of the rich dialogue occurring in many disciplines as we find ways to increase health and well-being for all people. By extension the book modestly addresses how human understanding of the importance of the natural environment to our health and well-being can influence our relationship with the natural world.

Table 1.2. Health-related information concerning human health and natural environments.

Information	Quality of information/confidence in information
Natural environments can be restorative	High: substantial database
Genetic predisposition may play a role in the effect of natural environments on health	Low: little research
Initial responses to natural environments are usually affective rather than cognitive	Medium: heavy reliance on anecdotal reports
Positive emotional states/blocked negative toned feelings	High: substantial research and anecdotal base
Decreased levels of stress and increased resilience and hardiness	Medium to high and developing
Building social networks/shared experiences	Medium
Physical fitness and levels of physical activity	High
Values (personal growth, self-awareness, reflection)	Developing

Throughout the book we offer examples of research. We describe and discuss research and problems that may arise from research design or interpretation. We want readers to think critically about research and be able to analyze and interpret results. The bottom line based on the research for this book and the experience of the authors is that nature has been and continues to be essential and incredibly positive for human life and that appropriate connections with nature will positively influence human development, health, and well-being.