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