Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.
This paper is a conceptual review about using outdoor, nature-based interventions (NBIs) to help prevent and treat depression. It does not present new trial data but argues we need to know the specific “active ingredients” that might make NBIs helpful. The authors list five possible mechanisms (stress, rumination, mindfulness, sleep,…
This feasibility study tested outdoor psychology sessions on an adult inpatient mental health rehabilitation ward during COVID-19. Three psychologists worked with 16 service users; 14 completed rating scales and 8 took part in interviews. Participants reported high satisfaction with the therapy relationship and comfort outdoors, and researchers identified six key…
This was a small, preliminary study that tested two short mindfulness setups: (a) an audio-only guided practice and (b) a multisensory experience (smell, sound, light) followed by a biofeedback display of the user’s heartbeat. Sixty-eight people took part. Heart-rate variability (HRV) data showed an increase in parasympathetic activity after the…
