Green Care: A Conceptual Framework - Frisk i naturen

these attributes are necessary for an effective model. It needs to be specific
to green care so that it will be distinguishable from other, adjacent or
overlapping fields or therapeutic approaches (that may have some similar
benefits or involve similar processes). It must also be generalisable to
the whole field, so that the model is relevant to all of green care and does
not only explain or predict a small part of the processes or mechanisms
inherent in the field. For example, a model that relates only to therapeutic
horticulture may be useful, but it becomes limited if some of it cannot
also be applied to care farms. There will inevitably be specific parts of
interventions that require specific dimensions of a model (or possibly
even a separate model) but there should be a core that is applicable to (and
describes) green care in general.
A model of green care will:
■■ define the general paradigm of green care and will list those specific
approaches and activities that fall under its umbrella. In doing so, it
should also be capable of identifying those interventions or activities
that fall outside of the definition of green care. As stated above, not all
‘green’ approaches are necessarily green care. Researchers within the
field will at some stage need to make decisions (and to reach a general
consensus) about what should be classed as green care and what should
not.
■ ■ describe the benefits – there are likely to be specific benefits of green
care. These may be related both to particular approaches and target
groups. A model of green care will identify and categorise those
benefits and relate them to the processes and mechanisms of green care.
■ ■ explore the mechanisms – these can be considered to be series of
events that are specifically triggered by the intervention (or specific part
of the intervention) and lead to another event, process or modification
of a system or processes which is the outcome.
■ ■ link with existing theories, frameworks and models – mechanisms
invariably invoke established theories (or other known mechanisms)
as ways of grounding them in a greater body of knowledge and
understanding and so contextualising them. Various interventions
within green care (for example, therapeutic horticulture) have long used
12 Green Care: A Conceptual Framework