A Needs Analysis for the Development of Forest Healing Programs: Focusing on Cancer Patients

Abstract

Background and objective: Cancer is the number one cause of death in Korea, and it affects any part of the body regardless of gender and age. Forest healing is a treatment that maximizes the effect of treatment and improves the quality of life. This study aims to provide basic data for the development and implementation of differentiated forest healing programs for cancer patients based on the survey on their interest and needs for the programs. Methods: The subjects were those diagnosed with cancer from October 2018 to April 2019, and this study used 144 copies of the questionnaire retrieved. The sample size of this study (n = 144) was the appropriate size required by G-Power, and the collected responses were analyzed using SPSS 25.0. Results: In the frequency analysis on the interest in forest healing, 79.2% of the subjects had no experience participating in forest healing, but 87% were aware of it, and 82.6% showed the intention to participate in forest healing programs. This indicates that even though not many of them have experience participating in forest healing, they showed high interest and needs for participation. They preferred to participate in spring (29.9%) and fall (27.8%), in programs carried out for 1.5-2 hours in the morning on weekdays. Conclusion: This study has implications for the analysis on forest healing needs of cancer patients, and it is necessary to plan, develop, and implement differentiated forest healing programs that meet the needs of the cancer patients depending on their characteristics. There is also a need to plan forest healing program that can promote both psychological stability and physical health of cancer patients and verify and evaluate their effects based on specialized training of forest healing instructors.

Analysis of Perceptions, Preferences, and Participation Intention of Urban Forest Healing Program among Cancer Survivors

“…Breast cancer has been reported to have the highest incidence of all cancers in women, not only in Korea but also internationally, and its survival rates are increasing [ 26 , 27 ]. This is consistent with the results of previous studies that surveyed the need for forest healing programs for patients with cancer [ 28 ].…”

“…The 255 participants preferred the regular visit type (68.6%) over the one-time visit type. This is similar to the results of previous studies that targeted urban forest users and patients with cancer [ 28 , 39 ]. In a meta-analysis study on the effects of forest healing on Korean adults [ 40 ], the difference in the effect size according to program type was not statistically significant, but the effect size was larger in the regular visit program.…”

“…The participants in this study were aware of forest healing, and although their prior participatory experience was low, their willingness to participate was high. These results were similar to studies analyzing the need for forest healing programs for the general public, patients with cancer, and patients with chronic illnesses [ 23 , 24 , 28 , 32 , 37 ]. A high willingness to participate in forest healing is because of an increased interest in health with the improvement in living standards, an increased desire to improve physical and mental health, an interest in the recreational opportunities, and an increased interest in forests which promote psychological and mental health [ 31 , 38 ].…”

“…There was no statistically significant difference in the purpose of participating in forest healing programs by cancer type, which is thought to be because of the small number of survivors of various cancer types [ 28 ]. In the future, it will be necessary to conduct a more systematic study by classifying it according to various types of cancer.…”

“…Additionally, cancer survivors have health problems, such as late-stage side effects, an increased risk of chronic diseases, anxiety, and depression. Therefore, forest healing instructors with the ability to conduct programs that reflect their specificity are required [ 28 , 46 ]. Furthermore, developing a customized forest treatment program for cancer survivors through focus group interviews and qualitative research is needed in the future.…”