Human beings have always been affected by their surroundings. There are various health benefits linked to being able to access to nature; including increased physical activity, stress recovery, and the stimulation of child cognitive development. The Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health provides a broad and inclusive picture of the relationship between our own health and the natural environment. All aspects of this unique relationship are covered, ranging from disease prevention through physical activity in green spaces to innovative ecosystem services, such as climate change adaptation by urban trees. Potential hazardous consequences are also discussed including natural disasters, vector-borne pathogens, and allergies. This book analyses the complexity of our human interaction with nature and includes sections for example epigenetics, stress physiology, and impact assessments. These topics are all interconnected and fundamental for reaching a full understanding of the role of nature in public health and wellbeing. Much of the recent literature on environmental health has primarily described potential threats from our natural surroundings. The Oxford Textbook of Nature and Health instead focuses on how nature can positively impact our health and wellbeing, and how much we risk losing by destroying it. The all-inclusive approach provides a comprehensive and complete coverage of the role of nature in public health, making this textbook invaluable reading for health professionals, students, and researchers within public health, environmental health, and complementary medicine.
Section 1: Why is nature a health factor? 1.1: Matilda van den Bosch and William Bird: Setting the scene and how to read the book 1.2: Felicia M. Low, Peter D Gluckman, and Mark A. Hanson: A life course approach to public health: why early life matters 1.3: Karl-Henrik Robert, Michael T. Hernke, Luke Fortney, and Rian Podein: Systems thinking for global health and strategic sustainable development 1.4: Peter Wahrborg, Panagiota Pervanidou, and George P. Chrousos: The physiology of stress and stress recovery 1.5: William Bird, Elissa Epel, Jeannette Ikovics, and Matilda van den Bosch: Unifying mechanisms: nature deficiency and chronic stress and inflammation Section 2: How nature can affect health- theories and mechanisms 2.1: Agnes E. van den Berg, and Henk Staats: Environmental psychology 2.2: Mardie Townsend, Claire Henderson-Wilson, Haywantee Ramkissoon, and Rona Weerasuriya: Therapeutic landscapes, restorative environments, place attachment, and wellbeing 2.3: Graham Rook: Microbes, the immune system and the health benefits of exposure to the natural environment 2.4: Heidi Janssen, Julie Bernhardt, Frederick R. Walker, Neil J. Spratt, Michael Pollack, Anthony Hannan, and Michael Nilsson: Environmental enrichment: neurophysiological responses and consequences for health 2.5: Caroline Hagerhall, Richard Taylor, Greg Watts, Gunnar Cerwen, Matilda van den Bosch, Daniel Press, and Steven Minta: Biological mechanisms and physiological responses to sensory impact from nature 2.6: Leonie Venhoeven, Danny Taufik, Linda Steg, Marino Bonaiuto, Mirilia Bonnes, Silvia Ariccio , Stefano de Dominicis, Massimiliano Scopelliti, Matilda van den Bosch, Paul Piff, Jia Wei Zhang, and Dacher Keltner: The role of nature and environment in behavioural medicine Section 3: Public health impact of nature contact - pathways to health promotion and disease prevention 3.1: Billie Giles-Corti, Fiona Bull, Hayley Christian, Mohammad Javad Koohsari, Takemi Sugiyama, and Paula Hooper: Promoting physical activity reducing obesity and NCDs 3.2: Matilda van den Bosch, Catharine Ward Thompson, and Patrik Grahn: Preventing stress and promoting mental health 3.3: Birgit Elands, Karin Peters, and Sjerp de Vries: Promoting social cohesion and social capital increasing wellbeing Section 4: Public health impact of nature contact- intervention and rehabilitation 4.1: Anna Maria Palsdottir, Joe Sempik, William Bird, and Matilda van den Bosch: Using nature as a treatment option 4.2: Aubrey H. Fine and Shawna Weaver: The human-animal bond and animal assisted intervention 4.3: Cecilia Stenfors, Eva Bojner Horwitz, Toeres Theorell, and Walter Osika: Similarities, disparities, and synergies with other complex interventions stress as a common pathway Section 5: Public health impact of varied landscapes and environments 5.1: Qing Li and Simon Bell: The great outdoors: forests, wilderness, and public health 5.2: Mathew P. White, Rebecca Lovell, Benedict W. Wheeler, Sabine Pahl, Sebastian Voelker, and Michael H. Depledge: Blue landscapes and public health 5.3: Peter H. Kahn, Jr: Technological nature and human wellbeing Section 6: Varied populations and interactions with nature 6.1: Nancy M. Wells, Francesqca E. Jimenez, and Fredrika Martensson: Children and nature 6.2: Mark Detweiler, Jack Carman, and Jonna G. Meinersmann-Detweiler: Nature-based treatments as an adjunctive therapy for anxiety among elderly 6.3: Richard Mitchell, Julia Africa, and Alan Logan: Vulnerable populations, health inequalities, and nature 6.4: Caroline Hagerhall: Responses to nature from populations of varied cultural background Section 7: Threats, environmental change, and unintended consequences of nature - protecting health and reducing environmental hazards 7.1: Asloeg Dahl, Matilda van den Bosch, and Thomas Ogren: Allergenic pollen emissions from vegetation threats and prevention 7.2: David Wong: Vector-borne diseases and poisonous plants 7.3: Eric K. Noji. Anas Khan and Osama A Samarkandi: The health impact of natural disasters 7.4: David J. Ball and Laurence N. Ball-King: Risk and the perception of risk in interactions with nature 7.5: Anthony J. McMichael: Population health deficits due to biodiversity loss, climate change, and other environmental degradation Section 8: The nature of the city 8.1: Florian Lederbogen, Leila Haddad, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, Danielle Ompad, and Matilda van den Bosch: The shift from natural living environments to urban population-based and neurobiological implications for public health 8.2: Timothy Beatley and Cecil Konijnendijk van den Bosch: Urban landscapes and public health 8.3: Stephen R. Kellert: Nature in buildings and health design 8.4: Raffaele Lafortezza and Cecil Konijnendijk van den Bosch: Green infrastructure - approach and public health benefits 8.5: Elisabet Lindgren, My S. Almqvist, and Thomas Elmqvist: Ecosystem services and health benefits an urban perspective 8.6: Evelyne de Leeuw and Premila Webster: The healthy settings approach: healthy cities and environmental health indicators Section 9: Natural public health across the world 9.1: Emmanuel K. Boon and Albert Ahenkan: Africa and environmental health trends 9.2: Ana Faggi, Sylvie Nail, Carolina Ceres, Sgobaro Zanette, and German Tovar Corzo: Latin America and the environmental health movement 9.3: Evelyne de Leeuw, Erik Martin, and Temo Waqanivalu: Healthy islands Section 10: Bringing nature into public health plans and actions 10.1: Robert Zarr and William Bird: The role of the health professional 10.2: Cinnamon P. Carlarne and Jeffrey M. Bielicki: The role of environmental law 10.3: Salim Vohra, Marla Orenstein, Francesca Viliani, Ben Cave, Ben Harris-Roxas, and Filipe Silva: Environmental assessment and health impact assessment 10.4: David Nowak: Quantifying and valuing the role of trees and forests on environmental quality and human health 10.5: Matilda van den Bosch, Cathey E. Falvo, Genon Jensen, Joshua Karliner, and Rachel Stancliffe: The role of civil society and organizations
Matilda van den Bosch is a physician with a PhD in landscape planning and public health. Her work cuts across medicine and environmental sciences, exploring interactions between human health and nature. Her main focus is health benefits from natural environments and how ecosystem services protect health in a changing climate. Her work is widely acknowledged, featuring in for example National Geographic. Apart from teaching and research activities at the University of British Columbia, Matilda has worked as a consultant to WHO, UN Environmental Programme, and the US Environmental Protection Agency. She is president of the Swedish Society of Behavioural Medicine and president elect of the International Society of Doctors for the Environment. William Bird is a GP with a special interest in the promotion of outdoor physical activity. He helped set up both the British Heart Foundation National Centre Physical Activity and Health in Loughborough University (2000) and European Centre for Environment and Human Health in Truro (2010). Between 2000 and 2005 he was clinical director at the Met Office working on the Health Forecasting service. In 2010 William was awarded the MBE for services to promote physical activity and health.
