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SUMMARY While there is considerable research on environmental contamination and degradation, there is equally credible evidence on the healthful qualities of the environment. Being in and caring for nature can be health promoting for individuals, families, communities, ecosystems and the planet. In this paper, we use a conceptual model for nature-based health promotion and a socio-ecological model of health promotion to guide the scope, organization and critique of relevant literature on naturebased health promotion in several fields and generate recommendations for practice, policy and research. We conclude that participatory community-based research is needed to build local knowledge and create systemic change in practice and policy to support healthy living for people and the planet.

Title. Engaging with nature to promote health: new directions for nursing research. Aim. The aim of this paper is to offer a conceptual framework for nature-based health promotion in nursing and provide related recommendations for future nursing research. Background. Empirical data suggest that interaction with nature has direct health benefits. When people attend to outdoor habitats, gardens and other forms of nature, they are more likely to engage in physical activity and other behaviours that improve health. Engaging with nature can even cultivate ecological sensibilities that motivate us to protect the health of our planet. Data sources. Multidisciplinary theoretical and research publications from 1985 to 2008 were examined in the development of the framework. Discussion. As the health of our planet continues to deteriorate, there is a pressing need for theoretically informed, ethical, sustainable ways of engaging with nature to promote human and environmental health. We adapt principles and socio-ecological thinking from the fields of nursing, health promotion and ecological restoration to delineate the essential elements of the proposed framework. Implications for nursing. Although evidence-based knowledge about nature-based health promotion is not readily used in nursing and health care, its development and application are critical to designing effective strategies to strengthen both human and environmental health. Conclusion. Nurses can use nature-based health promotion concepts to work with citizens, health practitioners and policymakers to explore and optimize reciprocal, health promoting relationships among humans and the natural environment. To the extent that nurses integrate nature-based health promotion into their research efforts, we can expect to contribute meaningfully to both environmental and human health in communities across the globe.

Quelques aspects dans le domaine du contrôle du tabac ont été marqués par une conceptualisation plus large des facteurs complexes qui déterminent la santé de la population. Les programmes de santé publique de contrôle du tabac accordent une part de plus en plus grande à des interventions à plusieurs niveaux et à des changements de politiques pour influencer le contexte. De plus, des concepts socio-écologiques (par exemple, stratégies visant des interactions intrapersonnelles, interpersonnelles et socio-environnementales) sont implicites à de nombreuses politiques exhaustives de réduction du tabac. Par contraste, la recherche interventionnelle sur le tabac est à la traîne par rapport à cette progression, avec des stratégies au niveau individuel qui continuent à dominer le programme de recherche. De nouvelles méthodes de recherche sont suggérées pour renforcer la recherche interventionnelle dans la prévention et l’arrêt du tabagisme. En utilisant l’exemple des adolescents et des transitions développementales, nous illustrerons comment la réflexion entourant les modèles socio-écologiques offre de nouvelles possibilités pour la recherche interventionnelle sur le contrôle du tabac., Some aspects of the tobacco control field have been informed by a broader conceptualization of the complex factors that determine population health. Tobacco control programs increasingly include multi-level interventions and policy changes to influence context. Further, socioecological concepts (e.g., strategies targeting intrapersonal, interpersonal and socioenvironmental interactions) are implicit in many comprehensive tobacco reduction policies. In contrast, tobacco intervention research lags behind this progression, with individual level strategies continuing to dominate the research agenda. New research methods are suggested to strengthen intervention research in tobacco prevention and cessation. Developmental transitions are briefly explored to consider the impact of developmental vulnerability and resiliency on youth tobacco use, providing an expanded focus and new opportunities for intervention research., Algunos aspectos en el campo del control del tabaco han sido marcados por una conceptualización más amplia de los factores complejos que determinan la salud de la población. Los programas de salud pública acuerdan una parte cada vez más grande a las intervenciones en varios niveles y a los cambios de políticas para influenciar el contexto. Además, los conceptos socioecológicos (por ejemplo, las estrategias que apuntan a las interacciones intrapersonales, interpersonales y socioambientales) están implícitos en numerosas políticas exhaustivas de reducción del tabaco. Por el contrario, la investigación intervencional sobre el tabaco está atrasada con respecto a este progreso, y el programa de investigación sigue estando dominado por estrategias a nivel individual. Se sugieren nuevos métodos de investigación para reforzar la investigación intervencional en la prevención y la supresión del tabaquismo. Utilizando el ejemplo de los adolescentes y de las transiciones del desarrollo se ilustra de qué manera la reflexión que rodea los modelos socioecológicos ofrece nuevas posibilidades para la investigación intervencional sobre el control del tabaco.

Parse’s theory of human becoming provides a foundation for understanding holistic nursing practice. The purpose of this article is to provide a description of Parse’s theory based on an interpretive analysis of the author’s nursing practice experiences. The interpretive analysis is not an outcome of formal study but results from reflective thought and journal writing. Details from reflections on nursing care experiences were analyzed for the concepts, processes, and rhythms inherent to Parse’s theory. Praxis of Parse’s theory creates the opportunity for nurses, patients, and families to reach profound dimensions of the human experience and participate in multidimensional healing. Outcomes of praxis for nurses also include personal and professional growth as well as discernment of holistic nursing practice.

In this paper, we examine selected research findings from a community-based study on engaging with nature to promote health. Combining participatory photographic research methods with an iterative process of dialectical analysis, we explored nature-based health promotion with community citizens, practitioners, and decision-makers from various sectors to examine the complexities of connecting with natural outdoor places in local contexts. Participants identified an array of barriers to and opportunities for everyday access to restorative outdoor places. The findings suggest that inter-sectoral governance with active citizen engagement in research, decision-making, and action may be essential to develop the ecological citizenship and communal norms and strategies that promote the health of people and their shared restorative places.

The use of photo research methods is influenced by underlying ontological and epistemological assumptions. Variant assumptions about reality and knowledge converge to conceive a relationship between the knower and what can be known. These assumptions provide the rationale for decided ways of engaging participants in the process of scientific inquiry. In this paper, we examine how perspectives of realism and relativism may shape epistemological understandings and influence type and use of photo methods in qualitative research. Based on deliberations about underlying ontological and epistemological assumptions and related strengths and challenges of photo methods, we assert that photo methods contribute to the development of knowledge that both matters to participants and informs nursing practice.