30th April 2025:
Had a really wonderful day with my Occupational Therapy students (Semester 6) today for our Outdoor Activities: Picnic Day! 🫶🏼🧺🌳👒
Nature-based outdoor activities such as picnicking, walking in green spaces, gardening, and group-based conservation work have been shown to significantly improve mental and physical health by reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression, enhancing mood, fostering social connection, and encouraging active engagement with natural environments (Coventry et al., 2021; Jimenez et al., 2021; Eady & Hollywood, 2024).
p/s: This activity is a part of semester 6 subject; Occupational Therapy for Psychiatric Conditions! 😉
The purpose of this experiential learning activity is to serve as an intervention model for students to apply the therapeutic use of self in a real-life community setting for individual with psychiatric conditions 😍💗
References:
- Coventry, P. A., Brown, J. E., Pervin, J., Brabyn, S., Pateman, R., Breedvelt, J., Gilbody, S., Stancliffe, R., McEachan, R., & White, P. L. (2021). Nature-based outdoor activities for mental and physical health: Systematic review and meta-analysis. SSM – population health, 16, 100934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100934
- Jimenez, M. P., DeVille, N. V., Elliott, E. G., Schiff, J. E., Wilt, G. E., Hart, J. E., & James, P. (2021). Associations between Nature Exposure and Health: A Review of the Evidence. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(9), 4790. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094790
- Eady, Jessica S. and Hollywood, Kayleigh E. (2024) “Benefits of Occupation-Based Outdoor Physical Activity to Mental Health,” OCCUPATION: A Medium of Inquiry about Health through Occupation: Vol. 5: Iss. 1, Article 1.
occupationaltherapy #picnicday #outdooractivity #learningOTisfun #perdana #PerdanaUniversity #otformentalhealth #OTstudents
