Healthy by Nature: Policy Practices Aimed at Maximizing the Human Behavioral Health Benefits of Nature Contact

Abstract

Research suggests that spending time in nature is associated with numerous human behavioral health benefits, including improved executive functioning abilities, enhanced recovery from stressful situations, better mental health, and better educational outcomes. Greener neighborhoods also tend to have positive population-level health outcomes. Although promising, much of this research has focused primarily on selective populations and fails to account for cultural differences in how “nature” is conceptualized. Therefore, challenges may arise as policymakers aim to implement nature-based policies in their communities, given the immense cultural diversity of the United States alone. Given this ever-present challenge in behavioral sciences, policy recommendations aim both to maximize benefits of nature contact and to employ a flexible equity lens that allow for differences according to community need.

Immersion in nature enhances neural indices of executive attention

“…As Roger Ulrich—a seminal figure in environmental psychology—suggests, research employing neurophysiological measures carries more weight than behavioral or subjective measures in political decision-making and will therefore be more effective in the implementation of environmentalist policy 42 . Moreover, studies suggest that nature-based interventions may be effective in improving health outcomes across a variety of conditions, such as attention-related disorders or depression 81 . Lastly, understanding the relationship between physical environments and the individual can also contribute to urban design geared toward optimizing human functioning.…”