Immediate health and wellbeing benefits of short-term forest therapy for urban healthcare workers: a case study in Giant Panda National Park with cultural ecosystem services.

The increasing frequency and prominence of global public health threats put urban healthcare workers at risk of physical and mental illness. Forest therapy holds crucial importance in promoting human health as a non-material benefit obtained from ecosystems. Cultural ecosystem services (CES) profoundly influence human welfare. National parks, due to their rich biodiversity and other favorable conditions, can support forest therapy and provide CES. This study organized 32 urban healthcare workers to participate in a two-day, two-night forest therapy in the Giant Panda National Park (GPNP), which provides CES, and examined immediate changes in their physical and mental health before and after the intervention. Among these, physiological indicators encompass respiratory and circulatory system, immune system, neurotransmitter system, physical fitness development, and sleep quality. Psychological indicators include self-restore and preferences, sensory perception, transcendent experiences, and personal subjective wellbeing. The results indicate that both forest bathing and sensory therapy activities within the GPNP may yield varying degrees of relaxation and concentration benefits. Forest therapy in medium hydrodynamic landscapes may offer significant physiological relaxation benefits for high-stress groups such as urban healthcare workers, while sensory therapy in forest environment may positively enhance concentration levels. Activities such as observation and experiential learning within national parks characterized by pristine ecological environments may be more effective in evoking positive or even exhilarating emotions. This exploratory finding could potentially contribute to the rehabilitation treatment of individuals with depression. Research findings on respiratory and circulatory systems, immune systems, neurotransmitter systems remind us that culture and nature are not in conflict. Infusing cultural elements into sufficiently good ecological environments may bring greater benefits to humanity. This exploratory discovery could aid future selections of therapeutic microenvironments for sub-health populations and individuals with respiratory diseases. This study also found that the most contributing activities to the mental health of urban healthcare workers in different environments were not exactly the same, with Baduanjin, plant nameplates and mandalas, and meditation on positive thoughts being highly contributing to both types of environments, while the landscape of smell was more contributing in the waterside environment of a national park, and the activity of embracing trees was more contributing in the forested environment of a national park. Additionally, the mental health benefits derived from natural environments with cultural ambiance surpass those of forest bathing in purely natural settings, which aligns with our findings regarding physiological benefits. The exploratory findings of this study may provide scientific evidence for the comprehensive impact of national parks on human health, and to offer feasible nature-based solutions for the health and wellbeing of urban healthcare workers and the broader population.