2025/11/01 by Judith Czakert, Sarah Blakeslee, Christian Kessler +2 · 1 voice
Environmental Science · Arts and Humanities · Health Professions · #Urban Green Space and Health #Art Therapy and Mental Health #Therapeutic Uses of Natural Elements
paper · doi:10.1177/16094069251404334
openalex publication_date 2025/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/12/13 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/14
Background: Systematic reviews and metanalyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have provided robust evidence on the health benefits of nature-based therapies in greenspaces. While such approaches are indispensable for advancing knowledge on therapeutic effects, they do not adequately capture the contextual and interpretive dimensions around these interventions. In the field of Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Medicine (TCIM), patient perspectives, meaning and decision-making processes, as well as complex interactions play a pivotal role. Despite this, they remain insufficiently researched. To bridge this gap, we conduct a metasynthesis of qualitative studies on nature therapies. This synthesis seeks to complement quantitative findings by offering in-depth insights into participants’ lived experiences and the multifaceted subjective effects of these interventions. The metasynthesis is guided by the following research questions: (1) How do nature-based therapies affect the health and well-being of participants? (2) How do participants in nature-based therapies experience and interact with nature and what is relevant to them? Methods: The metasynthesis follows a systematic approach based on the methodological framework developed by Sandelowski and colleagues, comprising of six sequential phases: (1) conceptualization of the qualitative research design, (2) execution of a comprehensive and systematic literature search with subsequent study selection, (3) classification of the findings, (4) synthesis and integration of qualitative findings, (5) assurance of methodological rigor, and (6) transparent reporting of the outcomes. The systematic search for qualitative studies of interest will be carried out using three databases of particular relevance to the research topic: CINAHL (EBSCO), MEDLINE (PubMed, Ovid), and Embase (Ovid). All stages of the process, from phase one through phase six, will be conducted collaboratively by at least two researchers. The protocol is structured in accordance with PRISMA-P guidelines, and the reporting of the metasynthesis will follow the ENTREQ parameters.