Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing): A Scoping Review of the Global Research on the Effects of Spending Time in Nature.

Background: This Scoping review (ScR) builds upon the 2017 review conducted by Hansen et al which contributed to evidence base shinrin-yoku (SY), also known as forest bathing (FB), has many positive health effects and is becoming a prescribed dose (specific time spent in nature) by health care providers. Practice and research regarding SY, has been historically based in Asian countries with a recent increase in Europe. The need and call for more research worldwide continues to further the evidence of SY as a health promotion modality. Through this ScR the authors identified programmatic components, health information monitored and screened, time spent in nature, geographical regions, trends, and themes in SY research worldwide. Methods: Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines we searched across 7 electronic databases for SY or FB research articles from 2017 through 2022. PubMed, CINAHL, PsycInfo, ScienceDirect, SCOPUS, Embase, JSTOR were included due to the interdisciplinary nature of SY or FB research. Each database provided unique strengths ensuring a capture of a wide range of articles. The resulting articles were screened and extracted through Covidence. Results: Database searches returned 241 results, with 110 references removed during the deduplication process, 131 were initially screened in the title and abstract review stage. Resulting in 82 unique results deemed relevant and screened in full text. During the final stage of the review, 63 articles met all inclusion criteria and were extracted for data. Conclusions: The practice of SY has physiological (PHYS) and psychological (PSYCH) benefits across age groups. Research findings indicate either the natural or the virtual environment (VW) has significant health benefits. Continued research is encouraged globally for short- and long-term health outcomes for all individuals. The connection with nature benefits the mind, body and soul and is supported by Henry David Thoreau's philosophy: "Our livesneed the relief of where the pine flourishes and the jay still scream."

Mindfulness and Shinrin-Yoku: Potential for Physiological and Psychological Interventions during Uncertain Times.

Mindfulness and Shinrin-yoku (SY) translated as forest bathing, is potentially effective to alleviate mental health issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The purpose of this article is to provide a translational and pragmatic approach to understanding mindfulness in the context of SY and psychological wellbeing through a rapid review of the literature. The background of mindfulness and SY practice are discussed and the emotional, neuroendocrine, and neurobiological responses are examined. Next, a rapid review of the literature examined six studies, published between 2010 and 2020 to determine what is known regarding the relationship between SY, mindfulness, and psychological wellbeing. The studies included 21-360 participants with a mean age of 20-55 years. The results demonstrated a significant positive correlation between nature, mindfulness, and measures of psychological wellbeing. During uncertain events, including COVID-19, weaving mindfulness with SY may be specifically important to at-risk groups, those experiencing depression, loneliness, and social isolation, and at-risk populations such as college students, veterans, and professionals with high levels of stress. The goal of this review is to provide a thorough background and support of this cost-effective modality to promote overall psychological wellbeing as a preventative measure to those at risk or experiencing psychological illnesses.

Intensive care nurses on social media: An exploration of knowledge exchange on an intensive care virtual community of practice.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To explore the nature of knowledge exchange on a multi-disciplinary Australasian intensive care virtual community of practice, "ICUConnect." BACKGROUND: Current organisational structures and cultures constrain the social networks of healthcare professionals, limiting access to contemporary best practice knowledge. While virtual communities can facilitate knowledge and clinical expertise exchange in professional networks, their effectiveness has not been established. DESIGN: A sequential mixed-methods design with a quantitative core and qualitative supplementary component was used to explore the content of discussions from an intensive care virtual community. SRQR has been used to report this study. METHODS: Email archives of an intensive care listserv (2003-2013) were mined using a two-stage sampling technique to identify discussion threads (with >2 posts) concerning ventilator or airway practices (cluster) and two sets of 20 threads (stratified across years). Summative content analysis was used to examine both manifest and latent content. RESULTS: Forty threads containing 326 emails posted by 133 individuals from 80 organisations were analysed. Nurses contributed 68% (55% were in clinical leadership roles) and physicians 27%. Three subject areas were identified: clinical practices (71%); equipment (23%); and clinical governance (6%). "Knowledge-requested" and "knowledge-supplied" posts were categorised as follows: experiential and explicit (33% and 16%, respectively); experiential (27% and 35%); or explicit (40% and 17%). Knowledge supplied was also categorised as "know-how" (20%); "know-why" (5%) or "no knowledge" exchanged (6%). The central construct of virtual community work was identified with six elements that facilitated participation and knowledge exchange including: (a) the discussion thread; (b) sharing of artefacts; (c) community; (d) cordiality; (e) maven work; and (f) promotion of the VC. Members asked questions to benchmark their practice, while those who answered were focused on ensuring that best practices were delivered. CONCLUSIONS: ICUConnect reflected characteristics of a virtual community of practice, enabling key benefits for members and the broader Australasian intensive care community, especially access to best practice knowledge from clinical experts. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study demonstrated that a practice-based VC can function effectively as a VCoP to establish an effective professional network where members have access to up-to-date best practice knowledge. Healthcare organisations could leverage VCs to support the professional development of HCPs and ensure that local clinical practices are based on contemporaneous knowledge. Participation by nurses in these communities facilitates individual professional development and access to important clinical knowledge and expertise, and ultimately reinforcing the unique position of nursing in delivering effective, consistent high-quality patient care.

Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing) and Nature Therapy: A State-of-the-Art Review.

BACKGROUND: Current literature supports the comprehensive health benefits of exposure to nature and green environments on human systems. The aim of this state-of-the-art review is to elucidate empirical research conducted on the physiological and psychological effects of Shinrin-Yoku (or Forest Bathing) in transcontinental Japan and China. Furthermore, we aim to encourage healthcare professionals to conduct longitudinal research in Western cultures regarding the clinically therapeutic effects of Shinrin-Yoku and, for healthcare providers/students to consider practicing Shinrin-Yoku to decrease undue stress and potential burnout. METHODS: A thorough review was conducted to identify research published with an initial open date range and then narrowing the collection to include papers published from 2007 to 2017. Electronic databases (PubMed, PubMed Central, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Scopus) and snowball references were used to cull papers that evaluated the use of Shinrin-Yoku for various populations in diverse settings. RESULTS: From the 127 papers initially culled using the Boolean phrases: "Shinrin-yoku" AND/OR "forest bathing" AND/OR "nature therapy", 64 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this summary review and then divided into "physiological," "psychological," "sensory metrics" and "frameworks" sub-groups. CONCLUSIONS: Human health benefits associated with the immersion in nature continue to be currently researched. Longitudinal research, conducted worldwide, is needed to produce new evidence of the relationships associated with Shinrin-Yoku and clinical therapeutic effects. Nature therapy as a health-promotion method and potential universal health model is implicated for the reduction of reported modern-day "stress-state" and "technostress.".

A feasibility pilot study on the use of complementary therapies delivered via mobile technologies on Icelandic surgical patients' reports of anxiety, pain, and self-efficacy in healing.

BACKGROUND: Complementary therapies (CT), such as relaxation technique, massage, guided imagery, and accupuncture have shown to benefit patients undergoing surgery. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of using audio relaxation technique (ART), music intervention (MI), nature video application with music (NVAM), and nature video application without music (NVA) delivered via mobile technologies in a clinical setting. Secondary, the effects of ART, MI, NVAM and NVA on patients' state anxiety, pain perception, and perceived self-efficacy in healing were determined. METHODS: A randomized clinical trial (RCT) involving 105 same day surgery (SDS) patients, who were assigned to an ART (n = 25), MI (n = 25), NVAM (n = 15), NVA (n = 16), or a control group (n = 24) were assessed for state anxiety, self-reported pain, and self-efficacy four days prior to surgery, immediately prior and following a surgical intervention, and day five post-operative. RESULTS: ANOVA found no statistically significant differences in anxiety scores; pain, or perceived self-efficacy between the five groups. Matched pairs t-Test revealed all participants had an increase in anxiety from pre-op to day 10 follow-up; a significant change in pain levels from pre-op to day 10 follow-up; and all participants had a significant increase in general self-efficacy from pre-op to day 10 follow-up. Mean pain level scores from day 1 to pre-op showed a significant decrease in pain for the ART group and NVAM group. Matched pairs t-Test for self-efficacy scores indicated the MI group and the NVA group had significant increases in self-efficacy. A significant decrease in anxiety from pre-op to day 10 for participants reporting a prior history of anxiety and for those reporting prior history of taking anti-anxiety medications. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the non-significant findings between the five groups, at any measurement point, there were valuable trends toward significance and confirmed feasibility in a clinical setting. Among the groups there were statistically significant findings for all interventions on anxiety, pain, and self-efficacy. The feasability of the implementation of novel interventions of NVAM and NVAM adds to clinical practice and the CT literature. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02236455 (September 4, 2014).

Impact of complementary therapies via mobile technologies on Icelandic same day surgical patients' reports of anxiety, pain and self-efficacy in healing: a randomized controlled trial in process.

Complementary and Alternative Therapies (CAT) are increasingly being utilized in conjunction with conventional medicine. Health Information Technology (HIT) and CAT are being scrutinized for evidence based health outcomes. The aim of this randomized controlled trial (RCT) is to determine if the use of mobile technologies delivering CAT, specifically relaxation technique (RT), medical music intervention (MMI), nature landscape applications with (NLAM) and without music (NLAWM) compared with no intervention (control group) will assist in decreasing pre- and post-surgical patients' anxiety and pain levels while increasing post-operative healing self-efficacy levels.

The potential of 3-D virtual worlds in professional nursing education.

Three-dimensional (3-D) virtual worlds (VWs), such as Second Life, are actively being explored for their potential use in health care and nursing professional education and even for practice. The relevance of this e-learning innovation on a large scale for teaching students and professionals is yet to be demonstrated and variables influencing adoption, such as increased knowledge, self-directed learning, and peer collaboration, by academics, and health care professionals requires empirical research.

ICT in the ICU: using Web 2.0 to enhance a community of practice for intensive care physicians.

Contemporary information and communicationstechnology (ICT), particularly applications termed "Web2.0", can facilitate practice development and knowledgemanagement for busy clinicians. Just as importantly, theseapplications might also enhance professional socialinteraction and the development of an interprofessionalcommunity of practice that transcends the boundaries ofthe intensive care unit, health service, jurisdiction andnation.We explore the development of Web 2.0 applications inhealth care, and their application to intensive care practicein Australia and New Zealand. The opportunities for usingpodcasts, blogs, wikis and virtual worlds to support cliniciandevelopment and knowledge exchange are clear in theory.However, strategic leadership from the Colleges is neededto fully exploit these technologies and to enable thedevelopment of a strong and sustainable ICU community ofpractice.

Versatile, immersive, creative and dynamic virtual 3-D healthcare learning environments: a review of the literature.

The author provides a critical overview of three-dimensional (3-D) virtual worlds and "serious gaming" that are currently being developed and used in healthcare professional education and medicine. The relevance of this e-learning innovation for teaching students and professionals is debatable and variables influencing adoption, such as increased knowledge, self-directed learning, and peer collaboration, by academics, healthcare professionals, and business executives are examined while looking at various Web 2.0/3.0 applications. There is a need for more empirical research in order to unearth the pedagogical outcomes and advantages associated with this e-learning technology. A brief description of Roger's Diffusion of Innovations Theory and Siemens' Connectivism Theory for today's learners is presented as potential underlying pedagogical tenets to support the use of virtual 3-D learning environments in higher education and healthcare.