Cover Image

Developing an effective forest therapy program to manage academic stress in conservative societies: a multi-disciplinary approach

We conducted a multi-disciplinary research to develop a forest therapy program that could manage academic stress in students. The first part of the study comprised of a survey to develop a forest therapy program based on the expectations of students, and involved 412 students aged 19–24 years (21.73...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rajoo, Keeren S., Karam Singh, Daljit Singh, Abdul Aziz, Nor Akmar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2019
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/81135/1/Forest%20therapy%20program.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/81135/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866719300123#!
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2019.05.015
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id my.upm.eprints.81135
record_format eprints
spelling my.upm.eprints.811352020-09-09T03:20:36Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/81135/ Developing an effective forest therapy program to manage academic stress in conservative societies: a multi-disciplinary approach Rajoo, Keeren S. Karam Singh, Daljit Singh Abdul Aziz, Nor Akmar We conducted a multi-disciplinary research to develop a forest therapy program that could manage academic stress in students. The first part of the study comprised of a survey to develop a forest therapy program based on the expectations of students, and involved 412 students aged 19–24 years (21.73 ± 2.33 years). The second part was a field study to determine the sustained effects the forest therapy program had on the blood pressure of students, involving twenty-nine students aged 21–23 years (21.83 ± 0.711). The survey determined that students were suffering from academic stress but their fear of societal stigma prevented them from seeking assistance. The majority (57.26%) expressed interest in forest therapy, and wanted a half-day forest therapy program during the weekend. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure were used as measurement indices for the field study, and was conducted before breakfast, lunch and dinner. Readings were taken 3 days before (baseline values), during, 3, 5 and 7 days after the forest therapy program. The blood pressure reading 3 days prior to the program served as a representation of the participants’ every blood pressure levels. When compared to the everyday blood pressure levels (124/81 mmHg), both the SBP and DBP significantly decreased during the forest therapy (117/77 mmHg), and the decrement maintained 3 days (114/77 mmHg) and 5 days after (118/79 mmHg). There was no significant decrease in blood pressure between the everyday levels and 7 days after. In conclusion, a half-day forest therapy program is able to decrease students’ SBP and DBP, and the decrements were maintained for 5 days. The exit survey reaffirmed the blood pressure results, whereby the participants believed that forest therapy had reduced their stress. Elsevier 2019-07 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/81135/1/Forest%20therapy%20program.pdf Rajoo, Keeren S. and Karam Singh, Daljit Singh and Abdul Aziz, Nor Akmar (2019) Developing an effective forest therapy program to manage academic stress in conservative societies: a multi-disciplinary approach. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 43. pp. 1-11. ISSN 1618-8667; ESSN: 1610-8167 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866719300123#! https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2019.05.015
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
building UPM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
language English
description We conducted a multi-disciplinary research to develop a forest therapy program that could manage academic stress in students. The first part of the study comprised of a survey to develop a forest therapy program based on the expectations of students, and involved 412 students aged 19–24 years (21.73 ± 2.33 years). The second part was a field study to determine the sustained effects the forest therapy program had on the blood pressure of students, involving twenty-nine students aged 21–23 years (21.83 ± 0.711). The survey determined that students were suffering from academic stress but their fear of societal stigma prevented them from seeking assistance. The majority (57.26%) expressed interest in forest therapy, and wanted a half-day forest therapy program during the weekend. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure were used as measurement indices for the field study, and was conducted before breakfast, lunch and dinner. Readings were taken 3 days before (baseline values), during, 3, 5 and 7 days after the forest therapy program. The blood pressure reading 3 days prior to the program served as a representation of the participants’ every blood pressure levels. When compared to the everyday blood pressure levels (124/81 mmHg), both the SBP and DBP significantly decreased during the forest therapy (117/77 mmHg), and the decrement maintained 3 days (114/77 mmHg) and 5 days after (118/79 mmHg). There was no significant decrease in blood pressure between the everyday levels and 7 days after. In conclusion, a half-day forest therapy program is able to decrease students’ SBP and DBP, and the decrements were maintained for 5 days. The exit survey reaffirmed the blood pressure results, whereby the participants believed that forest therapy had reduced their stress.
format Article
author Rajoo, Keeren S.
Karam Singh, Daljit Singh
Abdul Aziz, Nor Akmar
spellingShingle Rajoo, Keeren S.
Karam Singh, Daljit Singh
Abdul Aziz, Nor Akmar
Developing an effective forest therapy program to manage academic stress in conservative societies: a multi-disciplinary approach
author_facet Rajoo, Keeren S.
Karam Singh, Daljit Singh
Abdul Aziz, Nor Akmar
author_sort Rajoo, Keeren S.
title Developing an effective forest therapy program to manage academic stress in conservative societies: a multi-disciplinary approach
title_short Developing an effective forest therapy program to manage academic stress in conservative societies: a multi-disciplinary approach
title_full Developing an effective forest therapy program to manage academic stress in conservative societies: a multi-disciplinary approach
title_fullStr Developing an effective forest therapy program to manage academic stress in conservative societies: a multi-disciplinary approach
title_full_unstemmed Developing an effective forest therapy program to manage academic stress in conservative societies: a multi-disciplinary approach
title_sort developing an effective forest therapy program to manage academic stress in conservative societies: a multi-disciplinary approach
publisher Elsevier
publishDate 2019
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/81135/1/Forest%20therapy%20program.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/81135/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866719300123#!
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2019.05.015
_version_ 1677783008986267648
score 13.211869

Similar Items