Canadian researchers trial nature trick to boost mood in winter

Canadian researchers trial nature trick to boost mood in winter

Ian Sample - the Guardian - 25 Dec 2024

“People really need something to help them get through the winter, especially after Christmas,” said Dr Holli-Anne Passmore, the psychologist leading the study at Concordia University of Edmonton in Alberta. “If people don’t like winter in the first place, they really don’t see anything good in it.” ... The participants will be instructed, while they are out and about, to pay attention to the natural amid the human-made – the frosty tree beside the tower block, the animal footprints on the snowy pavement, the icicles dangling from the warehouse roof – and make notes on how it makes them feel. Before and after the trial, named the Noticing Nature Intervention, participants will complete questionnaires so researchers can assess their levels of anxiety, stress, happiness, life satisfaction and sense of connection to the world. They will then work out whether noticing nature in a built-up environment provides something of a boost.

Conseiller(ère) en aménagement du territoire MRC Brome-Missisquoi

 

Lien: MRC Brome-Missisquoi