Speaker

Wellbeing Benefits of Nature Connection

Pauline Marsh, Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre

Landcare and people care: The wellbeing benefits of Nature Connection

Connecting with nature can lead to numerous health and wellbeing benefits for people and the planet. There is now a mountain of evidence demonstrating the positive impacts of human-non-human nature connection on mood and physical health, and social and emotional wellbeing. Moreover, benefits can extend to improvements in a sense of place and sense of meaning and purpose, which can drive community-wide positive changes.

This presentation presents an overview of the evidence, with a focus on Tasmanian-based and international research across home gardens, community gardens, conservation sites and areas of ecological restoration. It takes a special focus on emerging work with people living with dementia by the UTAS Venture Out research group, and explores the potential impacts of nature connection on quality of life for people with cognitive disruptions, and their care-partners.

Pauline Marsh is a Health Geographer with the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, at the University of Tasmania. Her research explores

how being in nature 

improves our quality of life and she is particularly interested in the therapeutic benefits of gardens and the outdoors for people with cognitive, emotional and physical health challenges. She utilises methods of participatory action research, story-gathering and filmmaking and publishes in a range of academic journals. Read more about Pauline here or check out this recent publication: A mountain of health benefits? Impacts of ecological restoration activities on human wellbeing

View Pauline's Presentation at the Conference here: