Palsdottir, Anna Maria
- Department of People and Society, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
Purpose: Mental illness due to longstanding stress is increasing. It has been shown that service users with mental illness may benefit from nature-based interventions (NBI), including equine-assisted therapy, to support their health, recovery, and activity level of daily life. However, the evidence base to support this is still weak. The aim was thus to evaluate and provide knowledge of the possible effects on health, recovery and activity level from participating in a novel nature-based intervention among mental health service users with mental illness due to longstanding stress. Materials and methods: Forty participants took part in the study, which had a single group pretest-post-test design. The program was delivered in groups at a farm-based rehabilitation centre in a southern part of Sweden. It consisted of 24 weeks in two 12-week phases. Data were collected using well-tested questionnaires reflecting health, clinical and personal recovery, and activity level. Results: The analysis showed an improvement with medium to large effect sizes over time according to outcomes on aspects of health, recovery and activity level with exception for self-mastery. All outcomes were statistically significant with p-values
Keywords
Occupational therapy; equine-assisted therapy; psychiatry; nature- and animal-assisted interventions
Published in
Nordic Journal of Psychiatry
2025, volume: 79, number: 3, pages: 240-248
Publisher: TAYLOR AND FRANCIS LTD
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Psychiatry
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08039488.2025.2483736
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/141508