Green Care: A Conceptual Framework - Frisk i naturen

its effects. There will be shortcomings in distinguishing the differences
between therapeutic and preventive uses of green care. For example, is
‘therapy’ in a green care context mainly rehabilitation and therefore can
be regarded as tertiary prevention? Or does it really heal some diseases?
However, when the context of green care is extended from a primarily
‘therapeutic’ use to health promotion, new connections between health and
environment are detectable, and a wide array of outcome measures becomes
available for studying the effectiveness of the green care interventions.
7.2 Social inclusion
‘Social exclusion’ is a modern construct for describing disadvantage of
people within society that extends beyond simple poverty. One definition is
provided by the Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London
School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE):
“An individual is socially excluded if he or she does not
participate in key activities of the society in which he or she
lives” (Burchardt et al, 2002, p. 30)
Another definition which has been used by the government in the UK is:
“Social exclusion is a complex and multi-dimensional
process. It involves the lack or denial of resources, rights,
goods and services, and the inability to participate in the
normal relationships and activities, available to the majority
of people in a society, whether in economic, social, cultural or
political arenas. It affects both the quality of life of individuals
and the equity and cohesion of society as a whole”. (Social
Exclusion Unit, 2004)
Whilst there is a relationship between social exclusion, employment and
income, it is a complex construct and relates to an individual’s lack of
ability or opportunity to benefit from all of the varied dimensions of the
society or community of which they are part. Research has shown that
people with poor mental or physical health are often at greatest risk of
social exclusion (Social Exclusion Unit, 2004) and in the UK and other
countries there have been attempts to address the issues of social exclusion
of these and other vulnerable people through identifying the causes of
exclusion and developing strategies for ‘social inclusion’ (for example, see
104 Green Care: A Conceptual Framework