Green Care: A Conceptual Framework - Frisk i naturen

More broadly, biophilia is one of a number of psychological constructs that
helps us to understand how people are motivated to interact with nature
and, in the case of green care, gain healing benefit from it.
References
Kellert, S. R., and Wilson, E.O. (eds.) (1993) The Biophilia Hypothesis. Island Press.
Wilson, E. O. (1984) Biophilia. The Human Bond with Other Species, Harvard University Press.
Melson, G. F. (2000) ‘Companion animals and the development of children: Implications of the
Biophilia Hypothesis’, In A. Fine (ed.) Handbook on Animal-Assisted Therapy – Theoretical
Foundations and Guidelines for Practice, 376-383, San Diego: Academic Press, Elsevier Science.
6.3 Attention restoration theory
One theory used in connection with Green care, particularly therapeutic
horticulture, is that of Attention Restoration by outdoor environments.
Kaplan and Kaplan (1989) examined the preference for different landscape
images and developed the concept of a ‘restorative environment’ which
plays an important role in recovery from mental fatigue.
They propose that mental fatigue arises as a result of the effort involved
in inhibiting competing influences when attention is directed towards
a specific task. The view or experience of nature which is inherently
interesting or stimulating (i.e. has fascination) invokes involuntary
attention which requires no effort and is therefore restorative. Restorative
experiences have the following components:
Being away is the sense of escape from a part of life that is ordinarily
present and not always preferred. This involves a conceptual change and
not necessarily a physical change.
Fascination is the ability for something to hold attention without effort
thus allowing directed attention to rest. Fascination can be derived from
process – the act of carrying out an activity; or from content – the intrinsic
substance of what is experienced (for example, from the landscape itself).
Extent is the property of an environment that provides the feeling of being
“in a whole other world” that is meaningful and structured.
Compatibility is the affinity of an individual with the environment or
activity so that directed attention is not required in order to engage with it.
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