Nature-Based Interventions for Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Scoping Review

Active healthy ageing is a policy priority advocated by the World Health Organization (WHO). It involves proving the conditions to enable a heterogeneous older population to continuously engage in an active life. Efforts to promote nature-based interventions (NBIs), which are increasingly popular, are gaining traction amongst scientists and researchers.

This scoping review examines the types of NBIs that are applied in health promotions for older adults in the community, and whether these studies were guided using a conceptual framework. The following six databases were searched via EBSCOhost: Academic Search Premier, Art & Architecture Complete, CINAHL Complete, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), GreenFILE, and MEDLINE. All articles published in English and Chinese were included, but only articles in English were found. A total of 22 papers were included in the final analysis.

The NBIs for older adults were diverse, and only three papers discussed the use of models in guiding their study design. All 22 papers centered on individual health, and none focused on health promotions for older adults despite healthy active ageing having been on the WHO’s key health priority for national policy agendas worldwide.

Older adults are a heterogeneous group with individualized needs as they age. Because of diminishing functional capabilities over time, special attention needs to be paid when designing health promotion programs for them. Researchers and practitioners need to be in tune with the current trend of viewing health from a bigger picture and consider the topic from a systems framework.