The Healing Power of Nature - Norwegian Journal of Friluftsliv

combined with other measures seems to be the most promising for professional acceptance. Though
clinical and economic outcome data have historically been more influential in decision making, patient
satisfaction measures along with staff and caregiver benefits are becoming better recognized as valid
outcomes.
For many of the fields or disciplines mentioned above, research about the impact of nature on
health and wellbeing is a small part of that discipline. The magic happens when one looks at the
research from all of these disciplines and realizes that the combined body of research is significant. For
example, using this body of knowledge Mitten (2004) proposed that intentional health care work by
clinically trained outdoor leaders could help to such a medical significance that wilderness therapy and
adventure therapy ought to be classified as a complementary modality in the US National Institute for
Health (NIH), National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) classification in
the mind-body interventions, biologically-based therapies, and the energy therapies domains.
Theoretical concepts and underpinning theories
Theoretical concepts and underpinning theories are the set of ideas that guide research as well as
the work of practitioners and clinicians. In this section the author looks at the role of a number of
theories and concepts in both research design and practitioners’ work. The concepts and theories
described in this section help us look at the fundamental relationship of human beings and the natural
environment.
Theories and concepts are used to construct knowledge. Clarifying these relevant concepts and
theories will help advance the understanding and contextualization of the research being published
about nature and health. Through outlining these concepts, conceptual bridges can be built among
neighboring and maybe even more distant fields or professions, thus adding to the construction of
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