Research has connected sedentary lifestyles with numerous negative health outcomes, including a significant increased risk for mortality. Many health care professionals seek ways to help clients meet physical activity guidelines recommended by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, the World Health Organization, and the American College of Sports Medicine in order to promote active lifestyles and improve overall wellness. Hiking is a cost-effective intervention that encourages people to be physically active while spending time in nature. Time in nature can lead to health benefits through contact with the natural elements, participation in physical activity, restoration of mental and emotional health, and time with social contacts. Benefits may be immediate, such as decreased blood pressure, decreased stress levels, enhanced immune system functioning, and restored attention, or transpire over time, such as weight loss, decreased depression, and overall wellness. Health care providers are ideally positioned to recommend and prescribe hiking to clients. Federal, state, and local natural resource agencies are beginning to partner with health care professionals to promote outdoor nature-related activities. Examples of successful doctor and other health care practitioner partnership programs are described, along with tips for getting started.

This two-phase study investigates the process of developing resilience through participation in outdoor adventure programming. In this study, resilience is conceptualized as experiencing growth through a disruptive event. In the first phase, a pre-post survey measure was used to assess resilience in university students who were enrolled in a semester-long adventure education program, a three-credit leisure class, or a one-credit leadership class. The second phase involved semistructured interviews to better understand the results from Phase 1, which indicated an interaction effect between gender and time. Of particular interest was the finding that males decreased in reported levels of resilience, while females experienced increased levels. The salience of gender roles to adventure education programming is considered as an explanation for these results.

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