How might contact with nature promote human health? Promising mechanisms and a possible central pathway

By Ming Kuo. Frontiers in Psychology, 2015

669 citations recorded by the source corpus.

How might contact with nature promote human health? Myriad studies have linked the two; at this time the task of identifying the mechanisms underlying this link is paramount. This article offers: (1) a compilation of plausible pathways between nature and health; (2) criteria for identifying a possible central pathway; and (3) one promising candidate for a central pathway. The 21 pathways identified here include environmental factors, physiological and psychological states, and behaviors or conditions, each of which has been empirically tied to nature and has implications for specific physical and mental health outcomes. While each is likely to contribute to nature’s impacts on health to some degree and under some circumstances, this paper explores the possibility of a central pathway by proposing criteria for identifying such a pathway and illustrating their use. A particular pathway is more likely to be central if it can account for the size of nature’s impacts on health, account for nature’s specific health outcomes, and subsume other pathways. By these criteria, enhanced immune functioning emerges as one promising candidate for a central pathway between nature and health. There may be others.

Subfields: General Health Professions, Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/e7d8e507c5f46d0542121d9783ff7e0ccd17a5ed

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In General Health Professions

In Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

Citations in the corpus

An Exploration of the Relationships between Adults' Childhood and Current Nature Exposure and Their Mental Well-Being (2023, background): “Indeed, a recent review paper suggested that enhanced immune functioning may account for a host of the positive effects of nature exposure on human health (Kuo, 2015).”
Linkages between ecosystem services and human wellbeing: A Nexus Webs approach (2018, background): “For instance, an abundance and diversity of bird species, vegetation cover, and quality 310 bushland has been linked to increased satisfaction with place and health benefits (Kuo, 2015; Luck, 311 Davidson, Boxall, & Smallbone, 2011).”
Exploring potential mechanisms involved in the relationship between eudaimonic wellbeing and nature connection (2017, positive): “Other frameworks have expanded on this, with one particular framework identifying up to 21 plausible pathways while proposing enhanced immune function as the potential central pathway through which nature delivers multiple health benefits (M. Kuo, 2015).”
The Relationship between Social Cohesion and Urban Green Space: An Avenue for Health Promotion (2019, background): “A review article on potential mechanisms involved in the link between green space and health identifies enhanced immune functioning as a central pathway in this relationship [90].”
Are we working towards global research priorities for management and conservation of sea turtles (2016, background): “…psycho- 354 Rees et al.: Research priorities for sea turtles: a review logical, social, and spiritual value of access to ‘blue space’, wildlife, and biodiversity will begin to include sea turtles, their habitat, and conservation projects (Kuo 2015, Cracknell et al. 2016, White et al. 2016).”
Exploring pathways linking greenspace to health: Theoretical and methodological guidance (2017, background): “For example, it encourages consideration of other forms of capacity building aside from social contacts and physical activity (e.g. improving the functioning of the immune system through increased exposure to microbial biodiversity; Kuo, 2015) and other forms of restoration aside from stress recover”
Nature Contact and Human Health: A Research Agenda (2017, background): “In a recent review, Kuo (Kuo 2015) argued that improved immune function accounts for many of the health benefits of nature, based on meeting three criteria: accounting for the magnitude of observed health benefits; accounting for the specific health outcomes observed; and subsuming other possible pa”
Nature contact and mood benefits: contact duration and mood type (2018, background): “…Received 9 July 2018 Accepted 9 November 2018 KEYWORDS Nature contact; well-being; mood; self-transcendent emotion; eudaimonia Considerable evidence indicates that contact with natural environments is beneficial to human health and well-being (e.g. Kuo, 2015; Sandifer, Sutton-Grier, & Ward, 2015).”
The Role of Methodological Choices in the Effects of Experimental Exposure to Simulated Natural Landscapes on Human Health and Cognitive Performance: A Systematic Review (2020, background): “Some excellent reviews that are not restricted to simulations have delineated the mechanisms that underlie the link between nature exposure and human health (Kuo, 2015; Markevych et al., 2017; Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2017).”