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Woodlands for Health and
Wellbeing:
Why and How
A Practical Guide for Health Care
Practitioners and Support Workers wishing to utilise the proven
benefits of the natural environment to promote Health and Wellbeing.
About this Guide
This guide
was developed by the Coed Lleol partnership in consultation with the
National Public Health Service and is aimed at Health Care
Practitioners and Support Workers who want to explore innovative
options for developing the health and wellbeing of their Service
Users. It demonstrates how woodlands and woodland activities can
provide unique opportunities for achieving these goals. The guide
then explains how to develop a health and wellbeing programme in a
woodland setting.
The guide
is divided into three sections
Section A.
Explains WHY
woodlands are especially appropriate in promoting physical activity
and emotional wellbeing by presenting research findings and promoting
the specific benefits of woods and woodland activities in this
context.
Section B.
Provides
guidance on HOW to develop a woodland activities programme, drawing
on current experience in Wales. Readers are signposted to useful
resources of appropriate woodland venues, woodland service providers,
training and possible funding.
Section C.
Presents CASE
STUDIES of woodland health initiatives in Wales and highlights key
elements that contribute to their success.
How to use this guide
This guide is
intended for use by health care practitioners and support workers in
its electronic format and not as a printed hard copy. The contents
page which follows allows the reader to select specific areas of
interest via the hyperlinks on the section headings. Throughout the
document hyperlinks to relevant resources are provided so that the
user can access more detailed information without the document
becoming too unwieldy.
Terminology
Where the
terms Service User or Clients are used it refers to the
target group of the Health Care Practitioner or Support Worker such
as people with learning disabilities, people with mental health
problems, or individuals with specific conditions such as diabetes or
cardiovascular disease or simply people who wish to improve their
levels of physical activity.
Service
Providers refers to organisations, statutory bodies and voluntary
groups who undertake woodland activities which can improve health and
wellbeing.
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