The Effects of Winter Parks in Cold Regions on Cognition Recovery and Emotion Improvement of Older Adults: An Empirical Study of Changchun Parks

Abstract

Urban parks are one of the primary settings for older adults to exercise, and their health benefits have been confirmed by a large number of studies. However, with the increased social attention to mental health, there is not enough research on the short-term mental health recovery of older adults in parks. Meanwhile, the health recovery effects of winter parks in special climate areas have not been well explored. This study aimed to explore the effects of winter parks in cold regions on the short-term mental health recovery of older adults and the potential predictors of these effects, including individual status, park characteristics, and behavioral characteristics. This study divided short-term mental health recovery into cognitive recovery and emotional improvement, and selected the digit span test and 10 kinds of emotional expression as the experimental methods, recruited 92 older adults from 6 parks in Changchun, and compared the pre-test and post-test results for evaluation. The results showed that winter parks in cold cities still had short-term cognitive recovery and emotional improvement effects on older adults. The main park characteristic factors affecting the overall cognitive recovery were the evergreen vegetation area and the existence of structures, and that which affected the overall emotional improvement was the main pathway length. Furthermore, individual conditions, including gender, age, physical health, living and customary conditions, and park characteristics, including park type, park area, main pathway length, square area, equipment area, evergreen vegetation area, the presence of water, and structures, all related to short-term mental health recovery effects. Among behavioral characteristics, stay time in parks and MVPA (Moderate and Vigorous Physical Activity) times were also related to certain effects, but behavior type was not.

The Role of “Nostalgia” in Environmental Restorative Effects from the Perspective of Healthy Aging: Taking Changchun Parks as an Example

“…Many studies on nostalgia therapy involved music intervention [91] and odor creation [44], which can provide some evidence for this outcome. The path of the latter has also been confirmed by relevant research [16]. The restorative effects of the environment on individuals were not only determined by natural characteristics but also by the tolerance of local attachment.…”

“…(2) Participants were not the first to visit the sample park and had a certain level of familiarity with the park they were visiting. This was because research has shown that familiarity has an impact on emotional perception [16], and there was a survey on local attachment in this study. First-time visitors are usually unable to answer their level of dependence on the environment, and restorative effects may also be mediated by freshness.…”

“…Some studies have revealed that older adults who live near parks and have good interaction with parks have better psychological well-being [12]. Additionally, park environments can improve energy levels, restore attention, alleviate stress, improve mood, and enhance happiness through the provision of good spatial elements and spaces with different attributes [13][14][15][16]. At present, relevant research focuses on exploring the correlation between park characteristics and the health recovery effects of specific populations.…”

Back to the Village: Assessing the Effects of Naturalness, Landscape Types, and Landscape Elements on the Restorative Potential of Rural Landscapes

“…Most studies investigating the relationship between landscapes and perceived restorativeness have used psychological questionnaires [36,37]. However, some scholars have employed physiological measurement techniques such as heart rate variability (HRV) [38], blood pressure (BP) [39], skin conductance response (SCR) [3], electroencephalography (EEG) [40], and eye-tracking [41] to more scientifically and objectively verify the relationship between landscapes and perceived restorativeness.…”

Back to the Village: Assessing the Effects of Naturalness, Landscape Types, and Landscape Elements on the Restorative Potential of Rural Landscapes

“…ART suggests that restorative environments contain four key elements: being away, extent, compatibility, and fascination [23]. SRT asserts that nature holds healing potential and that contact with nature reduces stress, thereby facilitating physiological recovery and providing psychological solace [24].…”