• 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.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.983-993
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to provide information on a forest healing environment using the analysis of nature volatile organic compounds (NVOCs) and thermal comfort in Chungnam National University Experimental Forest, with the aim of using the Experimental Forest as a healing environment for health promotion. We analyzed NVOCs and thermal comfort of Chungnam National University Experimental Forest measured on September 12^th, 2021. As a result of the NVOC analysis, a total of seven substances were detected, mainly including alpha pinene and beta pinene. The detection amount for each time period was highest at the time of sunset. The thermal comfort was analyzed by time-dependent changes and changes according to clothing and exercise amount. The results showed that the predicted mean vote of the experimental forest is within the range of 'slightly cool' and 'slightly warm' sensation, and thus a comfortable thermal environment could be controlled by the amount of clothing and activity. Based on the analysis, this study provides information on the healing environment of the experimental forest at Chungnam National University. It also indicates that the forest can be used as a health promotion and healing environment with thermal comfort by composing a physical activity program of appropriate intensity for each time period.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.424-434
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• 2021

People who face retirement in aging society experience changes in resilience and psychological depression. As the baby boomer generation, which has played a central role in Korea's economic and social sectors, begins retiring, interest in their post-retirement lives has also increased. Thus, this study investigates the effects of a forest healing program using forest healing factors of ecological forests on the resilience and depression of baby-boomer retirees. This experiment divided 58 subjects in the baby boomer generation into three groups and examined differences among the groups. The result showed that the subjects in the forest healing program group (FHPG) had a very significant increase in resilience and a statistically significant decrease in depression compared to those in the forest healing program non-participation group (FHNG) and the daily life group (DLG). Therefore, it can be said participating in the forest healing program is more effective for retirees than voluntary forest activities. The results of this study can be used as basic data for research on the resilience and depression of retirees.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.9-23
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• 2024

This study investigates the physiological and psychological effects of a nature-based outdoor activity program in an environment reflecting the characteristics of forest and coastal areas on 30 firefighters (average age: 40.4 ± 9.8 years) who are frequently exposed to dangerous situations. Blood pressure, pulse pressure, and heart rate variability were used as physiological measurement indicators, and the Korean versions of PANAS (positive affect and negative affect schedule), WEMWBS (Warwick-Edinburgh mental well-being scale), and PRS (perceived restorativeness scale) were used as psychological measurement indicators. For four days and three nights, the participants experienced programs at Hallyeohaesang Nature Center and the surrounding mountains, seas, and islands, utilizing forest resources such as trekking on forest trails, walking barefoot, taking aromatic footbaths, meditating in forest oxygen domes, and lying on relaxation chairs, and programs utilizing marine resources such as taking a boat to an island, walking on forest trails with seascape views, and sailing on a yacht. Participants' systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure decreased, and participants' positive emotions increased and negative emotions decreased after the program. There was a statistically significant increase in mental well-being and perceived restorative environment. Through this study, it was found that nature-based outdoor activity programs based on forest and marine resources are effective in physiological and psychological stability of firefighters. It is hoped that the results of this study will be applied to other high-risk workers for PTSD, who have high stress levels, by combining forest healing and marine healing, and expanding the scope and diversity of programs in more diverse environments and conditions.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.249-256
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• 2024

This study aimed to verify the healing effect through brain and pulse wave analyses before and after a forest walk to the university students. Bio-signals of brain and pulse waves were measured using Omnifit Mindcare. After analyzing four brain wave items such as concentration and four pulse wave items such as heart health, it is identified that the stress level of university students was higher than that of the general public, and the brain stress level was approached to the normal range for 19 people with clear improvement. For pulse waves, a statistically significant decrease in sympathetic nerve activity (%) was confirmed. Although the slight fluctuations within the normal range were caused by short term and individual differences, it showed that the forest walking is partially effect on the relieving stress.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.95-99
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• 2023

Forest healing is an activity that enhances immunity and human health using various elements of nature, such as fragrance and scenery. Particularly, phytoncide composed of terpene, a natural volatile substance emitted by forest plants, activates the immune function and is an important raw material in health-related products, such as antibacterial and insect repellents. Moreover, phytoncide is used as a measure to evaluate the impact of the forest atmosphere on the human body. This study aims to implement a highly sensitive gas sensor system that can measure phytoncide in real-time, which is an essential element for realizing a forest healing environment. A gas generation apparatus was implemented by using an adsorption tube in consideration of filed applicability in a laboratory atmosphere to enable the measurement of α-pinene and limonene, which are among the main components of phytoncide. Throughout the experimental trials, the sensitivity of gas sensor arrays to α-pinene and limonene was confirmed. In addition, the classification results demonstrated the AVOCs and NVOCs can be well discriminated using PCA. The primary results confirmed the possibility of developing a high-sensitivity gas sensor system for phytoncide sensing in real time.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.43-51
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• 2015

Stresses from desolate urban environments cause illnesses and worsen health conditions of urban residents, while natural environments have a positive influence on human. Natural healing programs such as forest therapy and horticultural therapy can be differentiated by the characteristic of activity space. However, previous studies of healing programs have focused on either forest therapy or horticulture therapy and there is a limit to comprehending the effects of adopting and connecting various healing programs. This study compares and analyzes the physiological and psychological effects of forest therapy and horticultural therapy to identify the effects and differences by types of healing programs. The before and after effects of horticultural therapy and forest therapy are measured by experiment and survey for 5 days with 5 subjects in each program. For physiological reaction, blood pressure, pulse, and cortisol levels are measured and the profile of moods states(POMS) is used to measure psychological reaction. Collected data are analyzed with the analysis of variance(ANOVA) and Paired-Sample T-test in SPSS 18.0. The results of this study are as follows: 1) forest therapy and horticultural therapy show positive effects in physiological and physiological aspects, 2) forest therapy is more effective than horticultural therapy in physiological relaxation and stress mitigation, 3) horticultural therapy has a tendency to alleviate depression more effectively than forest therapy. In conclusion, this study contributes to providing fundamental information for the development of healing programs and design guidelines for healing spaces through identifying the characteristics of each healing program.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.99-107
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to find out the effects of five senses activities in forests on the reduction or mitigation of daily stress using various forest healing factors such as water, sunlight, topography, phytoncide, landscape, sound, fragrance, etc. The subjects of this study were 40 young children aged 5 in an early childhood education institution located in Cheongju. The children were divided into two groups: 20 in the experimental group and 20 in the control group. The experimental group participated in the program of five senses activities in the forest in total of 12 sessions (1-2 sessions a week), with each session lasting 60 minutes from May 8 to June 16, 2017. The control group, who did not participate in the five senses activities in the forest, participated in the Nuri Curriculum operated by the educational institution. Before and after the program, tests to measure daily stress in three different situations (encountering blame-aggression situation, experiencing anxiety-frustration, and losing self-respect) were conducted on young children and the data were analyzed using SPSS 21.0. As a result, daily stress of the young children decreased in all three situations with statistical significance. Through the five senses activities in the forest, young children could feel the nature by observing and exploring it in the forest, so which reduced their daily stress compared to the activities carried out in the classroom.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.908-914
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• 2016

Both interests in nature-friendly education and demands for nature experience program are steadily increasing in children education field in korea. This study aims to find out that five-sense experience-activity with healing factors of forest can have an effect on both self-efficacy and respectful recognition of life of children. 5-year-old young children were chosen as the subjects for this study. Test group participated two times a week in the special forest class in a children education institute in Chungju oo-dong while control group did not. Both test group and control group were composed of 20 young children respectively and each group were 11 boys and 9 girls respectively. The five senses experience activity program was conducted two sessions a week from 8 August to 20 September in 2016 and each session was one hour (60 minutes) long. Five senses experience activity is an activity that young children awaken their five senses in the forest, recognize seasonal change with their five senses, build up their selves and become intimate with nature. Before and after the program self- efficacy test and respectful recognition of life test were conducted and the data was analyzed using SPSS 18.0 program. The results indicated that after participating five senses experience activity program both children's self-efficacy which means having positive-thinking and self-confidence and respectful recognition of life which means valuing nature coexisting with nature were improved significantly(p<0.05). Through five senses experience activity young children felt nature freely and to their heart's content with their bodies and five senses experience activity had better positive impacts on children's self- efficacy and respectful recognition of life than classroom activities.