• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.11-19
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to develop the strategy on activation of village by forest healing. Researcher conducted the questionnaire survey for forest healing village development to classify the mountain's characteristics by the three factors(linkage resource, program, facilities). In result, village characteristics were divided into two types: single element outstanding type(resource), complex element outstanding type(resource+program, resource+facilities). The development of forest healing village have to focused on the forest healing service recipient and mountain village characteristics. In conclusion, relationship between forest healing recipient and mountain characteristics was as follows: single type (resource) - public; complex type (resource+program) - chronic disease, social vulnerable people; complex type (resource+facilities) - severe disease. The detailed guideline for forest healing village needs to be established according to the mountain characteristics.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.735-747
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• 2023

This study was conducted to identify the appropriate space requirements for forest healing program for physical and mental health care of female cancer survivors in their 40s and 60s. From September to November 2023, 12 cancer survivors were surveyed at Chungnam National University Forest and Daejeon Healing Forest. One Forest Therapy instructor and two researchers conducted a forest healing program once a week for eight sessions of two hours each, Perceptions and satisfaction with the program and space were assessed using pre and post program questionnaires, and the effect of participation in the forest healing program on mood status was evaluated. The satisfaction survey results were supplemented by qualitative studies conducted through post-interviews. Result of the analysis showed that the satisfaction of the participants was very high (4.8/5.0). There was a notable increase in vigor and a decrease in total mood disturbance after participation in the program. Toilets and water facilities (11), tool boxes (9), pest control facilities (3), deck facilities (3), forest hut (3), electrical outlets (2), shade shelters (2), and shoe hairy (1) were proposed as required facilities for cancer survivors. This study demonstrated that the forest healing program is effective in reducing distress in female cancer survivors in their 40s and 60s and appropriate facility standards for the forest healing space are needed to increase the satisfaction of cancer survivors.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.693-702
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to provide basic data for developing effective forest healing programs for retirees by identifying their characteristics and preferences. A survey was conducted on demographic characteristics, overall perceptions of forest healing, and preferences for forest healing programs, targeting a total of 258 retirees visiting a natural recreation forest and a healing forest. The results of the survey suggested that the awareness of the forest treatment program and the hope of participating in it were both high, but the experience of participating in the program was low. Among the forest healing programs, the order of preference was "Breath in the forest", "Wind bathing and sunbathing", and "Feeling negative ions in the valley". Based on these results, it is expected that the forest healing program for retirees will be used as basic data for development of such programs in the future.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.290-301
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• 2022

Increasing life expectancy leads to a rise in the prevalence of aging-related mental diseases and a concomitant increase in the financial and societal pressures related to their prevention and management. This issue is attracting increasing attention from researchers. Therefore, this study aimed to determine whether a healing program in a forest environment is effective for improving cognitive function, depression, anxiety, and stress in elderly people. A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. The experimental group consisted of 18 males and females aged 60 to 80 years who participated in a forest healing program for seven days, while the comparison group comprised 10 people with similar demographics. For the process of data analysis, this study performed a cross-analysis to determine the homogeneity of the data and carried out the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, a nonparametric statistical test, to verify the significance of each group. Participation in the forest healing program led to a significant improve-ment in cognitive function (p=0.030). The levels of depression decreased, but this result was not statistically significant. The levels of anxiety decreased significantly (p=0.004). The mean cortisol score, a measurement of stress, decreased, but it was not statistically significant. These findings confirmed the effectiveness of this program for improving certain mental conditions of elderly people, and affirmed that the use of long-term forest healing programs can be expected to alleviate national pressures created by aging societies.

• The Journal of the Korean Institute of Forest Recreation
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.1-9
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• 2018

This study aimed to improve the quality of forest healing program through analyses of the program activities given at National Healing Forest and surveys conducted by Korea Forest Service. 99 DB data of the healing forest that were surveyed by KFS (August 2015~April 2016) were collected in order to affirm the activities. We analysed DB based on the format of the survey by target, 6 healing factors, location, season, time periods, operation hours and multifaceted evaluation. The results showed that the activities in the forest healing program targeted general public and the factor that was considered the most was psychotherapy factor. Healing forest trails were used as a location, spring, summer and fall as season, morning and afternoon as time period for the majority of the activities. The running time was 60 minutes. The multifaceted evaluation revealed that dynamic activities were preferred the most in development of programs. According to the results of the forest healing programs, it seems to be critical to enhance forest healing instructors' diversified professionalism. However, this will only be achievable once further investigations regarding forest healing effects by types of illnesses are conducted and provide solid foundation for such professionalism.

• The Journal of the Korean Institute of Forest Recreation
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.49-58
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of weekend forest healing programs using urban forest on family cohesion and family relationship improvement and parental satisfaction with programs. 21 families (65 people)participated in the weekend forest healing program in Incheon Grand Park from April to August 2018. The program using family forest experience activity and forest healing therapy was newly constructed and implemented with 4 times 8 hours for 2 hours each week. The results of this study is that weekend forest healing programs for family gave a positive effect on family cohesion and family relationship, and parents' satisfaction showed high satisfaction in most items. Therefore, we concluded that forest healing activities are suitable for effective healing activities in modern society where functions such as family cohesion and emotional bond are recognized as important by improving family cohesion and family relationship. Further research should be extended to different types of families, and the development of diverse and interesting family-experience forest healing programs that reflect family needs should continue.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.122-131
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• 2018

Purpose: This study was conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of forest healing therapy by analyzing researches on forest healing therapy applied to Korean adults and to confirm that forest healing therapy can be used as a therapeutic intervention program for elderly nursing or rehabilitation nursing. Methods: We searched 972 research papers on forest therapy applied to Korean adults. We reviewed appropriate 25 research papers with experimental design among them in the final analysis. Results: Forest healing therapy had physiological and psychosocial effects. First of all, it showed physiological effects to reduce stress index such as heart rate variation. Forest therapy also improved melatonin level in blood of middle-aged women with menopause and increased alpha wave in electroencephalogram and decreased lipid level and superoxide dismutase in blood. Second, forest healing therapy showed psychosocial effects to reduce depression and to improve mental health. But the effects appeared differently depending on the implementing type, period of forest healing therapy, and the professionalism of therapists. Therefore, if forest healing therapy would be applied to nursing, it should be based on its key principle, in other words, its principle of action-interaction-response of forest healing therapy. Conclusion: The results of this study could be used to develop a forest healing program as an intervention of nursing.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.683-694
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• 2020

Background and objective: Cancer is the number one cause of death in Korea, and it affects any part of the body regardless of gender and age. Forest healing is a treatment that maximizes the effect of treatment and improves the quality of life. This study aims to provide basic data for the development and implementation of differentiated forest healing programs for cancer patients based on the survey on their interest and needs for the programs. Methods: The subjects were those diagnosed with cancer from October 2018 to April 2019, and this study used 144 copies of the questionnaire retrieved. The sample size of this study (n = 144) was the appropriate size required by G-Power, and the collected responses were analyzed using SPSS 25.0. Results: In the frequency analysis on the interest in forest healing, 79.2% of the subjects had no experience participating in forest healing, but 87% were aware of it, and 82.6% showed the intention to participate in forest healing programs. This indicates that even though not many of them have experience participating in forest healing, they showed high interest and needs for participation. They preferred to participate in spring (29.9%) and fall (27.8%), in programs carried out for 1.5-2 hours in the morning on weekdays. Conclusion: This study has implications for the analysis on forest healing needs of cancer patients, and it is necessary to plan, develop, and implement differentiated forest healing programs that meet the needs of the cancer patients depending on their characteristics. There is also a need to plan forest healing program that can promote both psychological stability and physical health of cancer patients and verify and evaluate their effects based on specialized training of forest healing instructors.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.595-605
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• 2017

This study was intended to investigate the effects of after-school forest healing programs on the pro-social behavior and self-efficacy of young children using the attributes of forest and the forest healing factors. The children attending a kindergarten located in ${\bigcirc}{\bigcirc}$ - dong, Cheongju city were divided into a test group which participated in the forest healing program activities and a control group which participated in the regular programs of the kindergarten but not in the forest healing program. Each group consisted of 20 boys and girls aged 3 to 5 years. The forest healing program was conducted once a week from 10 April to 10 July in 2017 for a total of 12 sessions, and each session lasted one hour (60 minutes). The pro-sociality behavior and self-efficacy test of the children was conducted before and after the forest healing program, and the data were analyzed using SPSS 18.0 program. The result showed that the pro-social behaviors that indicated the ability to execute the positive action and the self-efficacy that indicated the self-confidence were statistically significant (p<0.05). The young children who participated in the forest healing program improved their self-esteem through positive thoughts from being with their peer in nature. Moreover, they increased not only ecological knowledge but also consideration for others and cooperative spirit. They also greatly improved the ability to control personal emotion and the ability to form the personal relationship which are the sub-factors of pro-sociality, the ability to adapt to the early childhood education institution, and the physical efficacy which is the sub-factor of self-efficacy. It was concluded that the after-school forest healing program had a positive impact on pro-social behavior and self-efficacy.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.575-589
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• 2018

This study analyzed the changes in Electroencephalogram(EEG) and Electrocardiogram(ECG) depending on the healing environment in order to find a way to improve the forest healing program based on the healing environment in response to the demand for qualitative improvement of the program since the program is a charged service. This study selected eight sites running forest healing programs at four national healing forests (i.e., Saneum, Cheongtaesan, Daegwanryeng, and Jangseong) - two routes per national healing forest - considering forest environments. This study chose NUMBER standard sampling plots ($20{\times}20m$) and measured three atmospheric environment items, seven physical environment items, two soil environment items, and eight vegetation environment items including forest sound and anion at each plot to evaluate physiological changes in it. EEG and ECG, which have been widely used in forest healing evaluation, were utilized as criteria. Seventy three subjects were selected with taking the age, drug, caffeine, smoking, and the time of last meal into consideration. As a result, EEG changes were correlated with three atmospheric environment items, six physical environment items, one soil environment item, and two vegetation environment items. ECG changes were significantly correlated with two atmospheric environment items, six physical environment items, two soil environment items, and two vegetation environment items (p<.05). It is expected that 11 environmental factors such as temperature, density, and altitude affecting EEG (e.g., alpha balance and gamma balance) and ECG (e.g., HRV mean) could be used as effective tools in developing more differentiated programs for improving healing effects.