• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.113 no.2
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• pp.210-221
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• 2024

This study aimed to investigate the effects of forest walking based on an exercise prescription on body composition of older adults. Forty-four older adults (average age: 69.3 ± 3.1 years) participated in this study. The experimental group engaged in forest walking based on a prescribed exercise intensity considering the participants' respective health conditions. The participants walked three times a week for more than an hour each time for 8 weeks. By contrast, the participants in the control group spent their days according to their usual lifestyle. The analysis involved the following: ① a comparison of the measurements taken before and after the 8-week period of forest walking in the experimental group, ② a comparison between pre- and post-study measurements in the control group, and ③ a comparison of the changes (post-study minus pre-study values) between the experimental and control groups. The results were as follows: ① the experimental group showed significant decreases in weight, body fat mass, and body mass index; ② the control group exhibited significant decreases in muscle mass and ratio in right arm and left leg, muscle ratio in trunk, and body water mass in right arm; and ③ weight and body fat index decreased in the experimental group but increased in the control group. In conclusion, forest walking based on an exercise prescription had a positive impact on body composition of older adults.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.104 no.1
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• pp.140-149
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• 2015

The aim of this study was to clarify the physiological and psychological effects of walking around and viewing a lake in a forest environment. The subjects included 11 male Japanese university students (age: $22.0{\pm}1.2$ years) who were randomly assigned to visit either a forest or an urban (control) setting. They were instructed to walk a predetermined 15-min course and to view the setting from a seated position for 15 min. Heart rate variability, heart rate, blood pressure, pulse rate, and salivary cortisol levels were measured to assess the subject's physiological responses to the environment. Four questionnaires (SD method, reports of "refreshed" feeling, POMS, and STAI) were administered to assess the subjects' psychological responses. It was found that walking around and viewing a lake in a forest environment can suppress sympathetic nerve activity, increase parasympathetic nerve activity, and decrease the heart rate, blood pressure, pulse rate, and cortisol levels. In addition, a forest environment can enhance the "comfortable," "soothing," "natural," and "refreshed" feelings, improve the mood state, and reduce anxiety. These results provide scientific evidence of the physiological and psychological effects of forest therapy.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.108 no.3
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• pp.440-453
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• 2019

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of watching a two-dimensional (2D) forest video and a virtual reality (VR) forest video on stress reduction in adults. Experiments were conducted in an artificial climate room, and 40 subjects participated. After inducing stress in the subjects, subjects watched a 2D gray video, 2D forest video, or VR forest video for 5 mins. The autonomic nervous system activity was evaluated continuously in terms of measured heart rate variability during the experiment. After each experiment, the subject's psychological state was evaluated using a questionnaire. The 2D forest video decreased the viewer's stress index, increased HF, and reduced heart rate compared with the 2D gray video. The VR forest video had a greater stress index reduction effect, LF/HF increase effect, and heart rate reduction effect than the 2D gray video. Psychological measurements showed that subjects felt more comfortable, natural, and calm when watching the 2D gray video, 2D forest video or VR forest video. We also found that the 2D forest video and VR forest video increased positive emotions and reduced negative emotions compared to the 2D gray video. Based on these results, it can be concluded that watching the 2D forest and VR forest videos reduces the stress index and heart rate compared with watching the 2D gray video. Thus, it is considered that the 2D forest video increases the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system, and the VR forest video increases the activity of the sympathetic nervous system. The increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system upon watching the VR forest video is judged to be positive sympathetic nerve activity, such as novelty and curiosity, and not negative sympathetic activity, such as stress and tension. The results of this study are expected to be the basis for examining the visual effects of forest healing, with hope that the utilization of VR, the technology of the fourth industrial revolution in the forestry field, will broaden.

• The Journal of the Korean Institute of Forest Recreation
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.71-81
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• 2018

It is necessary to build a quality-enhancing forest leisure sports facility according to values that value life quality, national forest policy. Vita Parcours (fitness trails) is found to be the activities highly convenient, so their introduction and promotion in Korea should be highly considered. field survey was necessary to explore the possibility of installing Vita Parcours. Several sites were selected, such as Asean recreational forest, Unaksan recreational forest, Yumyeongsan recreational forest, Saneum recreational forest, Jungmisan recreational forest and National center for forest therapy. At these locations, we explored the current status of forest facilities and forest trails. A total number of 31 exercise facilities has been identified and surveyed, some of which are located on the trails (2), alongside the trail (9), alongside trail boundaries (2) or represent facilities suitable for both outdoor and indoor exercise within the forest (18), all of whom provide location for 44 different exercise routines (flexibility exercises (23), endurance (12) and strength exercises (9)). Field work also included identification of forests paths, the total number of whom was 34 paths - 30 identified as trails, 2 as hiking trails, 1 as a forest path for relaxation and healing and 1 as an exploratory path. Regarding the structure and shape of these trails, 32 was straight in shape and only 2 designed as a circular forest trails. Average length of these trails was 652.2m with the highest and the lowest point altitude difference of 60m, on average. Saneum recreational forest provide the most suitable site/environment for Vita Parcours and as a result of this, Saneum recreational forest is proposed as a location to support the endeavors in promotion of these valuable forest fitness trails. Among the forest paths at this site, a forest path which has a length of 1.84km and 73.0m the highest and the lowest point altitude difference was selected as the most suitable, and may be equipped with necessary stations for exercise or obstacles. In addition, if these trails are to be introduced and welcomed by its users, we must assure that they are properly maintained.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.525-534
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• 2022

In this study, we investigated the psychological and physiological effects of experiences in real natural forests and virtual forests using artificially controllable VR. The experiment tested 60 adult college students in a natural forest and a graduate seminar room where external light was blocked. It evaluated the effects of the natural and the VR forest environments by comparing the psychological and physiological recovery of the subjects. Psychometric testing using the PANAS psychological index showed increased positive emotions and decreased negative emotions after experiencing forest scenery in the natural and VR forest environments. And a stress index, based on measuring cortisol in saliva, decreased significantly in the subjects in both environments. The experiment results can be used to support the creation of a psychological and physiological recovery environment with VR for those who cannot go to the natural forest due to certain restrictions such as physical distance, mobility difficulties, etc. It is expected that the results will be the basis for further research into the visual effects of forest healing and also for widening the use of VR, a technology of the fourth industry, in the field of forestry.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.95-106
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• 2023

Korean healing research has developed over the past 20 years along with the growing social interest in healing. The field of healing research is diverse and includes legislated natural-based healing. In this study, abstracts of 2,202 academic journals, master's, and doctoral dissertations published in KCI and RISS were collected and analyzed. As for the research method, LDA topic modeling used to classify research topics, and time-series publication trends were examined. As a result of the study, it identified that the topic of Korean healing research was connected with 5 types and 4 mediators. The five were "Healing Tourism," "Mind and Art Healing," "Forest Therapy," "Healing Space," and "Youth Restoration and Healing," and the four mediators were "Forest," "Nature," "Culture", and "Education". In addition, only legalized healing studies extracted from Korean healing research and the topics were analyzed. As a result, legalized healing research classified into four. The four types were "Healing Spatial Environment Plan", "Healing Therapy Experiment", "Agricultural Education Experiential Healing", and "Healing Tourism Factor". Forest Therapy, which has the largest amount of research in legalized healing, Agro Healing and Garden Healing which operate similar programs through plants, and Marine Healing using marine resources also analyzed. As a result, topics that show the unique characteristics of individual healing studies and topics that are considered universal in all healing studies derived. This study is significant in that it identified the overall trend of research on Korean healing facilities and programs by utilizing LDA topic modeling.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.11-24
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• 2024

Purpose : This study aims to identify the factors influencing health-related quality of life through machine learning of the general characteristics of patients with hypertension and to provide a basis for related research on patients, such as intervention strategies and management guidelines in the field of physical therapy for health promotion. Methods : Annual data from the second Korean Health Panel (Version 2.0) from 2019 to 2020, conducted jointly by the Korea Health and Social Research Institute and the National Health Insurance Service, were analyzed (Korea Health Panel, 2024). The data used in this study was collected from January to July 2020, and the data was collected using computer-assisted face-to-face interviews. Of the 13,530 household members surveyed, 1,368 were selected as the final study participants after removing missing values from 3,448 individuals diagnosed with hypertension by a doctor. Results : The results showed that walking (P2) was the most significant factor affecting health-related quality of life in random forest, followed by perceived stress (HS1), body mass index (BMIc), total household income (TOTc), subjective health status (SRHc), marital status (Marr), and education level (Edu). Conclusion :To prevent and manage chronic diseases such as hypertension, as well as to provide customized interventions for patients in advanced stages of the disease, research should be conducted in the field of physical therapy to identify influencing factors using machine learning. Based on the findings of this study, we believe that there is a need for additional content that can be utilized in the field of physical therapy to improve the health-related quality of life of patients with hypertension, such as diagnostic assessment and intervention management guidelines for hypertension, and education on perceived stress and subjective health status.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.98 no.1
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• pp.26-32
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• 2009

The use of natural environments to change lifestyle and health has been long recognized. In particular, forests, trees, and open space have been shown to promote mental health. In this study, we examined the effectiveness of the structured psychotherapeutic program using forest environment ("forest activity program") to improve the symptoms of nine patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) who were taking variable doses of antidepressants. We assessed the depressive symptoms, quality of life, and autonomic nerve regulation among the MDD patients. Hamilton Rating Scales for Depression (HRSD) scores significantly decreased after the forest therapy (13.56 vs. 5.56, p=0.003), and some subscores of Short Form 36 health survey questionnaire (SF-36) and heart rhythm coherence are improved as well. Combined with antidepressant pharmacotherapy, the structured psychotherapeutic program using forest environment showed an improved health status for MDD patients and thus has potential as an adjuvant treatment for MDD, especially for rehabilitation and relapse prevention.

• Journal of the Korea Computer Graphics Society
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.31-39
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• 2024

This study applied virtual reality systems for forest therapy to reduce motion sickness and enhance immersion using multi-sensory elements. In applying virtual reality systems, multi-sensory elements were utilized to reduce motion sickness while providing a more immersive experience. Among these elements, tactile and olfactory devices utilizing wind and scent were developed and employed. The program was developed using Unity3D's HDRP (High Definition Render Pipeline), and both HMD (Head Mounted Display) and non-HMD systems were established to determine if visual motion induces motion sickness. An air circulator was placed to provide a sense of wind and allow users to smell scents through the olfactory device. An experiment was designed to examine whether tactile and olfactory stimuli influence user satisfaction with the virtual reality forest therapy system. The results showed that the tactile device significantly reduced motion sickness, while the developed olfactory device did not yield significant results in reducing motion sickness for participants.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.113-123
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• 2016

This study was to investigate the antifungal activity of A. holophylla essential oil against dermatophytes, such as Epidermophyton floccosum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Trichophyton rubrum, and to determine the potential effective compound as dermatitis treatment. To evaluate the potential antifungal activities of A. holophylla essential oil and its fractions, paper disc diffusion and agar dilution method tested with morphological observation. Also, their major constituents were analyzed by GC/MS. To determine synergic effects of active ingredient from A. holophylla essential oil were carried out by checkerboard microtiter plate testing. The morphological changes of the dermatophytes exposed to active fraction G4 were observed by electron microscopes. As the results, the highest activities were identified in the fraction containing ${\alpha}$-bisabolol. A mixture of ${\alpha}$-bisabolol and bornyl acetate showed the synergy effects, expressing high potential effects. Also, morphological observation using electron microscopes showed a dramatic changes of cell membrane of E. floccosum and T. rubrum exposed to fraction G4 containing ${\alpha}$-bisabolol. In conclusion, A. holophylla essential oil and its constituents were expected to be used as antifungal agent or raw material for dermatitis therapy.