Bridging the evidence gap: A review and research protocol for outdoor mental health therapies for young Australians
Flies, Emily J., Pryor, Anita, Henderson-Wilson, Claire, Turner, Megan, Roydhouse, Jessica, Patrick, Rebecca, O’Shea, Melissa, Norris, Kimberly, Martin, Angela, Marsh, Pauline, Bartlett, Larissa, Rahimi Azghadi, Mostafa, and Neil, Amanda (2024) Bridging the evidence gap: A review and research protocol for outdoor mental health therapies for young Australians. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education. (In Press)
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Abstract
Internationally, over 60% of all lifetime cases of mental health disorders are identified as emerging by 25 years of age. In Australia, young people (aged 16–24 years) report the highest prevalence of mental health problems. Acceptability of mainstream services for young people is a concern, particularly for clients 18–25 years, heterosexual males and certain marginalised communities. With unaddressed distress in young people a precursor to poor, potentially lifelong mental ill-health trajectories, the provision of acceptable, and accessible mental health services remains a critical system imperative. Outdoor therapies, such as outdoor talking therapies, present an option for increasing the breadth of mental health interventions available to young people. Reported benefits of outdoor therapies include improved self-esteem and confidence, positive and negative affect, stress reduction and restoration, social benefits, and resilience. As outdoor therapies draw on multidisciplinary skillsets, this modality has the potential to expand services beyond existing workforce capacities. However, there are evidence gaps that must be addressed before mainstreaming of this treatment modality can occur. Here we overview the existing evidence base for outdoor talking therapies, as a form of outdoor mental healthcare, to determine their appropriateness as an effective and efficient treatment modality for young people with psychological distress in Australia and elsewhere. We then propose a research protocol designed to determine the acceptability, efficacy and efficiency of ‘outdoor talking therapies’. Our aim is to help address identified youth mental healthcare service shortages in Australia, and potentially support the health of our mental healthcare workforce.
| Item ID: | 81255 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 2522-879X |
| Keywords: | Distress, Ecotherapy, Nature, Therapy, Wellbeing, Youth |
| Copyright Information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Jan 2024 23:13 |
| FoR Codes: | 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4203 Health services and systems > 420313 Mental health services @ 100% |
| SEO Codes: | 20 HEALTH > 2003 Provision of health and support services > 200305 Mental health services @ 100% |
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