People with dementia attending farm-based day care in Norway - Individual and farm characteristics associated with participants' quality of life.

Farm-based day care for people with dementia is supposed to improve the participants quality of life by using activities and resources of the farm environment to promote mental and physical health. In this paper, we describe the characteristics of those attending farm-based day care services in Norway and explore the association between individual and farm characteristics and the quality of life. A sample of 94 people with dementia who attended farm-based day care was recruited from 25 farms between January 2017 and January 2018. The data collection was performed using standardized instruments. Information about the farms was retrieved from a former study. The association between the participants' quality of life and their individual and/or farm characteristics was examined with a linear multilevel regression model. The participants had a mean age of 76 years, 62% were men, and 68% had additional education after primary school. Most of them had mild (54.3%) or questionable dementia (18.3%). A few participants used antipsychotics (3.7%), tranquilizers (9.9%) and painkillers (13.6%), while a higher number used antidepressants (30.9%). Quality of life was associated with the experience of having social support (p = .023), a low score on depressive symptoms (p < .001), and spending time outdoors at the farm (p < .001). The variation between the farm-based day care services in the participants' reported quality of life was related to time spent outdoors at the farm. In light of the present study, it seems as farm-based day care is addressing people with dementia in an early stage, dominated by men, with quite good physical and medical condition. The strong association between quality of life and spending time outdoors underscores that facilitation for outdoor activity should be prioritized in all types of dementia care.

Is Green Exercise for All? A Descriptive Study of Green Exercise Habits and Promoting Factors in Adult Norwegians.

Background: Physical activity (PA) in natural environments, known as green exercise (GE), can provide health benefits above and beyond PA in other environments, but little is known about the extent to which GE is an accessible form of weekly PA across different social groups. This study aims to examine the "GE phenomenon" in Norway, and evaluate possible differences in GE habits and perceived factors that promote GE across sub-groups of this population. Methods: 2168 adults from all over Norway reported weekly GE and other forms of PA, specific forms of GE, and perceived factors that promote GE. Data were examined in the overall sample and in relation with the respondents' PA status and sociodemographic characteristics. Results: GE, especially "walking in the forest" and "activities by/on the sea", was the most popular form of weekly PA, even among those with low PA levels. GE was fairly represented across all social groups, and especially among the elderly, those who live with spouse/partner and those who live in the west regions of Norway, while no associations were found in relation to sex, centrality, education level or household income. "Time flexibility" and "PA-supportive places" were generally perceived as the most important factors that promote GE across all social groups. "Accessibility to nature" was generally perceived relatively little important, though a gradient was observed in relation to age, education level and household income. Conclusions: GE is an important source of weekly PA and health among adult Norwegians, especially in sub-groups of interest for public health such as the elderly, those with lower socio-economic status and those who live in non-urban areas. More should be done to understand and address the inequities relative to the perceived accessibility to nature.

Nature contact and organizational support during office working hours: Benefits relating to stress reduction, subjective health complaints, and sick leave.

BACKGROUND: Improving social support, and providing nature contact at work are potential health promoting workplace interventions. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to investigate whether nature contact at work is associated with employee's health and participation, and to study whether the possible associations between nature contact and health can be explained by perceived organizational support. METHOD: Data were collected through a web-based, cross-sectional survey of employees in seven public and private office workplaces in Norway (n = 707, 40% response rate). Multiple linear and logistic regression analysis were performed on 565 participants fulfilling inclusion criteria. RESULTS: A greater amount of indoor nature contact at work was significantly associated with less job stress (B = -0.18, CI = -0.318 to -0.042), fewer subjective health complaints (B = -0.278, CI = -0.445 to -0.112) and less sickness absence (B = -0.061, CI = -0.009 to -0.002). Perceived organizational support mediated the associations between indoor nature contact and job stress and sickness absence, and partly mediated the association with subjective health complaints. Outdoor nature contact showed no reliable association with the outcomes in this study. CONCLUSIONS: Extending nature contact in the physical work environment in offices, can add to the variety of possible health-promoting workplace interventions, primarily since it influences the social climate on the workplace.