IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v268y2021ics0277953620307590.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Therapeutic landscapes, outdoor programs for veterans, and public lands

Author

Listed:
  • Havlick, David G.
  • Cerveny, Lee K.
  • Derrien, Monika M.

Abstract

In recent decades, scholars have developed ideas about therapeutic landscapes that explore how social processes, symbolism, and physical features generate diverse meanings. We examine here how therapeutic landscapes are produced and utilized for outdoor programs for military veterans, particularly veterans experiencing post-traumatic stress. Outdoor programs for veterans (OPVs) provide restorative opportunities through nature immersion and outdoor recreation. OPVs involve diverse social settings, activity types, durations, geographic and land management contexts, and degrees of therapeutic intervention. In many combinations they can generate therapeutic landscapes conducive to some degree of recovery. Our analysis relies on qualitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews with OPV providers and participants, mental health specialists, and public land officials. Arguing against a reductionistic approach, we suggest that the diversity of OPVs and disparate character of activities, locations, and dosages may contribute in important ways to the efficacy of these programs. Ironically, the very qualities that present challenges for measuring and evaluating the benefits of OPVs may prove to be advantageous with respect to therapeutic outcomes. We highlight how public lands present a distinctive set of attributes that make them particularly well-suited to provide therapeutic opportunities, and that agency policies can shape the development of therapeutic landscapes.

Suggested Citation

  • Havlick, David G. & Cerveny, Lee K. & Derrien, Monika M., 2021. "Therapeutic landscapes, outdoor programs for veterans, and public lands," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:268:y:2021:i:c:s0277953620307590
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113540
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953620307590
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113540?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Williams, Allison, 2002. "Changing geographies of care: employing the concept of therapeutic landscapes as a framework in examining home space," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 141-154, July.
    2. Milligan, Christine & Gatrell, Anthony & Bingley, Amanda, 2004. "'Cultivating health': therapeutic landscapes and older people in northern England," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(9), pages 1781-1793, May.
    3. Sarah L. Bell & Benedict W. Wheeler & Cassandra Phoenix, 2017. "Using Geonarratives to Explore the Diverse Temporalities of Therapeutic Landscapes: Perspectives from “Green” and “Blue” Settings," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 107(1), pages 93-108, January.
    4. Williams, Allison, 1998. "Therapeutic landscapes in holistic medicine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 46(9), pages 1193-1203, May.
    5. Gesler, Wilbert M., 1992. "Therapeutic landscapes: Medical issues in light of the new cultural geography," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 735-746, April.
    6. Bell, Sarah L. & Foley, Ronan & Houghton, Frank & Maddrell, Avril & Williams, Allison M., 2018. "From therapeutic landscapes to healthy spaces, places and practices: A scoping review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 123-130.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Milligan, Christine & Chalfont, Garuth & Kaley, Alex & Lobban, Fiona, 2021. "Wilderness as therapeutic landscape in later life: Towards an understanding of place-based mechanisms for wellbeing through nature-adventure activity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Völker, Sebastian & Kistemann, Thomas, 2013. "Reprint of: “I'm always entirely happy when I'm here!” Urban blue enhancing human health and well-being in Cologne and Düsseldorf, Germany," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 141-152.
    2. Taheri, Shima & Ghasemi Sichani, Maryam & Shabani, Amirhosein, 2021. "Evaluating the literature of therapeutic landscapes with an emphasis on the search for the dimensions of health: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    3. Mossabir, Rahena & Milligan, Christine & Froggatt, Katherine, 2021. "Therapeutic landscape experiences of everyday geographies within the wider community: A scoping review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    4. Völker, Sebastian & Kistemann, Thomas, 2013. "“I'm always entirely happy when I'm here!” Urban blue enhancing human health and well-being in Cologne and Düsseldorf, Germany," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 113-124.
    5. Liamputtong, Pranee & Suwankhong, Dusanee, 2015. "Therapeutic landscapes and living with breast cancer: The lived experiences of Thai women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 263-271.
    6. Hoyez, Anne-Cécile, 2007. "The 'world of yoga': The production and reproduction of therapeutic landscapes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 112-124, July.
    7. English, Jennifer & Wilson, Kathi & Keller-Olaman, Sue, 2008. "Health, healing and recovery: Therapeutic landscapes and the everyday lives of breast cancer survivors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 68-78, July.
    8. Liamputtong, Pranee & Kurban, Hala, 2018. "Health, social integration and social support: The lived experiences of young Middle-Eastern refugees living in Melbourne, Australia," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 99-106.
    9. Huang, Liyuan & Xu, Honggang, 2018. "Therapeutic landscapes and longevity: Wellness tourism in Bama," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 24-32.
    10. Martin, Graham P. & Nancarrow, Susan A. & Parker, Hilda & Phelps, Kay & Regen, Emma L., 2005. "Place, policy and practitioners: On rehabilitation, independence and the therapeutic landscape in the changing geography of care provision to older people in the UK," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(9), pages 1893-1904, November.
    11. Plane, Jocelyn & Klodawsky, Fran, 2013. "Neighbourhood amenities and health: Examining the significance of a local park," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 1-8.
    12. Allison Williams & Peter Kitchen, 2012. "Sense of Place and Health in Hamilton, Ontario: A Case Study," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(2), pages 257-276, September.
    13. Hale, James & Knapp, Corrine & Bardwell, Lisa & Buchenau, Michael & Marshall, Julie & Sancar, Fahriye & Litt, Jill S., 2011. "Connecting food environments and health through the relational nature of aesthetics: Gaining insight through the community gardening experience," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(11), pages 1853-1863, June.
    14. Tim Lomas & Kate Hefferon & Itai Ivtzan, 2015. "The LIFE Model: A Meta-Theoretical Conceptual Map for Applied Positive Psychology," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(5), pages 1347-1364, October.
    15. Buzinde, Christine N. & Yarnal, Careen, 2012. "Therapeutic landscapes and postcolonial theory: A theoretical approach to medical tourism," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(5), pages 783-787.
    16. Andrews, Gavin J. & Shaw, David, 2010. ""So we started talking about a beach in Barbados": Visualization practices and needle phobia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(10), pages 1804-1810, November.
    17. Greig, Abbie E., 2023. "“This family and the Games are my world”: Conceptualizing the British and European Transplant Games as therapeutic landscapes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 337(C).
    18. Scott, Darius, 2022. "Uncaring landscapes and HIV peer support in the rural Southern United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    19. Proudfoot, Jesse, 2019. "Traumatic landscapes: Two geographies of addiction," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 194-201.
    20. Anna Staniewska, 2022. "Gardens of Historic Mental Health Hospitals and Their Potential Use for Green Therapy Purposes," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-23, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:268:y:2021:i:c:s0277953620307590. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.