Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Aug 29;20(17):6677.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph20176677.

Medical Nature-Based Rehabilitation Program for Individuals with Exhaustion Syndrome: Changes in Quality of Life, Exhaustion Symptoms and Overall Health

Eleanor Petitt  1 , Bo Rolander  2 , Per Johnsson  1
Affiliations

Medical Nature-Based Rehabilitation Program for Individuals with Exhaustion Syndrome: Changes in Quality of Life, Exhaustion Symptoms and Overall Health

Eleanor Petitt et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Stress-related health problems have increased sharply over the last two decades and have become a serious issue at all levels of society. In the Jönköping Region in southern Sweden, a nature-based rehabilitation (NBR) program for adults with Exhaustion Syndrome has been developed and then implemented into the Swedish National Healthcare System. The main aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of this NBR-program. This was achieved by examining patients' quality of life, exhaustion symptoms and overall health using self-assessment instruments, comparing the results before participation to immediately after, three months after and six months after. With a sample size of 67 participants, the results show a statistically significant improvement for all points. From a public health perspective, and with background knowledge of the nature of the patient group under treatment, the studied program would appear to be effective and economic, having a satisfied patient group as well as a favourable comparison with the outcomes of other research programs. Although the results are promising, as this is a naturalistic field study, there is no control group, and further research is encouraged. We suggest randomised controlled studies, longitudinal studies and investigation of mediators.

Keywords: Exhaustion Syndrome; nature-assisted interventions; nature-based rehabilitation; stress.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Währborg P. Stress och den Nya Ohälsan. Natur och Kultur; Stockholm, Sweden: 2002.
    1. Eklöf B., Larsson H., Ellbin S., Jonsdottir I.H., O’Dwyer S., Hansson C. The role of self-reported stressors in recovery from Exhaustion Disorder: A longitudinal study. BMC Psychiatry. 2022;22:529. doi: 10.1186/s12888-022-04172-y. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Perski A. Ur Balans. Bonnier; Stockholm, Sweden: 2012.
    1. Åsberg M., Grape T., Krakau I., Nygren Å Rodhe M., Wahlberg A., Währborg P. Stress som orsak till psykisk ohälsa. Läkartidningen. 2010;107:19–20. - PubMed
    1. Hasson D. Stressa Rätt! Öka din Energi, Hälsa och Effektivitet. Viva; Stockholm, Sweden: 2008.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.

LinkOut - more resources