Pilot Project of Forest Bathing for Promoting Health

Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Universidad de Navarra28 enrolled

Overview

An exploratory trial using a cuasi-experimental design aimed to improve the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities. The intervention consists of 11 consecutive sessions of forest bathing (one session per week), each one lasting about 2 hours. Each session involves an easy walk through a forest area, interspersed with non-intrusive activities of contact with the surrounding nature aimed at fostering mindfulness and the use of the five senses. Data were collected at baseline, post intervention, and 7 months of follow-up.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Intellectual Disability

Interventions

Forest bathingOTHER

The intervention consists of 11 consecutive sessions of forest bathing (one session per week), each one lasting about 2 hours. Each session involves an easy walk through a forest area, interspersed with non-intrusive activities of contact with the surrounding nature aimed at fostering mindfulness and the use of the five senses.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Adults with intellectual disability enrolled in a specific occupational center. * Being informed about the study and having signed the informed consent document. Exclusion Criteria: * Having stated their not willing to participate in the study

Locations (1)

Universidad de Navarra

Pamplona, Navarre, Spain

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Systolic and diastolic blood pressure

Time frame: 1 minute

Heart coherence

Using emWave Pro Plus device and software

Time frame: 5 minutes

Perceived quality of life and wellbeing

Using INICO-FEAPS questionnaire (Verdugo Alonso et al., 2013): Scale for the Integral Evaluation of the Quality of Life of people with intellectual or developmental disability, developed by the University Institute for Community Integration (INICO) and the Spanish Confederation of Organizations for People with Intellectual or Developmental Disability (FEAPS). It is a self-report tool that consists of 72 four-point Likert-type items divided among 8 dimensions: self-determination, rights, emotional wellbeing, social inclusion, personal development, interpersonal relationships, material well-being, and physical well-being. Each dimension is composed of nine items. Each subscale score is calculated by summing up the score for each of the nine items, and a total score is then calculated by summing up the scale scores. Higher scores are associated to better quality of life.

Time frame: 30 minutes

Secondary Outcomes

Physiological Equivalent Temperature

Following Höppe (1999) procedure

Time frame: 10 minutes

Thermic perception

Using questionnaire published in previous studies (Teli et al., 2012; Trebilcock et al., 2017), that includes 3 items to assess thermal sensation vote (TMV) (7-point Likert scale), one item to assess thermal preference vote (TPV) (3-point scale), one item to assess the feeling of comfort (closed-answer), one item to get clothing information (closed-answer), and one item to evaluate the feeling of tiredness (3-point scale). The answers to these questions put the PET value (outcome 4) into context and help interpret it.

Time frame: 3 minutes

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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