Wilderness as therapeutic landscape in later life: Towards an understanding of place-based mechanisms for wellbeing through nature-adventure activity

Milligan, Christine, Chalfont, Garuth, Kaley, Alex ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1147-1604 and Lobban, Fiona (2021) Wilderness as therapeutic landscape in later life: Towards an understanding of place-based mechanisms for wellbeing through nature-adventure activity. Social Science and Medicine, 289. ISSN 0277-9536

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Abstract

While there is considerable evidence that therapeutic landscapes have a positive impact on wellbeing, we know little about the mechanisms through which this impact occurs. In this paper we go some way toward addressing this gap. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 12 people aged between 52 and 75 years of age, who are engaged in nature-adventure activity in the UK, we focus on what they understand by ‘wilderness’; their experiences of nature-adventure in wilderness settings; and the impact of these experiences on their wellbeing. Moving beyond the largely behavioural focus of laboratory-based studies prevalent within environmental psychology, we highlight the importance of understanding the role of the contextual in the therapeutic relationship. That is, how relational, embodied, social, lifecourse and/or cultural factors that are constitutive of wilderness environments impact wellbeing for those engaged in nature-adventure activity in later life. In doing so, we map out a working model of the mechanisms that impact wellbeing within this context. Our data suggest that there is no one single mechanism, rather we need to think about a range of mechanisms, often operating across a series of spectra (active/passive; safety/risk; alone/socially etc) and importantly, each are connected to place. Hence, we suggest, that where that activity takes place is instrumental for wellbeing.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	later life,mechanisms,nature-adventure activity,therapeutic landscapes,wilderness,health(social science),history and philosophy of science ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3306
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Sociology
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?... https://www.research.lancs.ac.uk/portal/...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	03 Jan 2025 01:05
Last Modified:	09 Jan 2025 01:02
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/98077
DOI:	10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114411

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