Abstract: Throughout this semester, I have heard the reoccurring theme of stress during my lectures. This discussion follows the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in a lot of different subsets of stress for many individuals. However, even without the pandemic, stress levels have been increasing and the mental health of students in Bloomington, IN has been deteriorating for years. Our campus has the resources – The Indiana University Health Center, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), Crimson CORPS, Bloomington Hospital, hotlines, and online meetings – but these prove still not enough with recent demographics and community assessments. This research study intends to discuss biophilia as an intervention for mental health on and off campus.
Research Question: What biophilic interventions can be made to decrease levels of stress and positively impact mental health of late adolescents and students attending Indiana University – Bloomington?
From the year 2015 to 2018, The Monroe County Health Department conducted a community health assessment which consisted of surveys, focus groups, and in-person interviews in order to gather data on the overall needs of the community. Its results showed the top health concerns from low income/poverty to geriatrics. Within the top five concerns, at number three, lies mental health (Monroe County Health Department, 2015-2018), a concerning demographic. These concerns include a high average of mentally un-healthy days, lack of mental health resources, high and increasing mortality rates for suicide, and health care shortages (IU Health Team, 2018). The same study was conducted once again in 2019 and Community Survey results indicated that mental health was the fourth significant health need in Monroe County (Monroe County Health Department, 2019). Although there has been a slight decline over the past year in assessed need, this is still a concerning demographic.
The city of Bloomington has many institutionalized resources to provide students with their mental health needs. These include the Indiana University Health Center, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), Crimson CORPS, Bloomington Hospital, hotlines, online meetings, and even the Mental Health Task Force. Each incorporation is there to not only help students with their mental health needs but also for raising awareness and decreasing stigmas on and off campus. Some programs have even adapted to COVID precautions and become more available through online meetings and hotlines. This makes me question why the data shows mental health needs as a determinant demographic. Our community, structurally speaking, should be meeting the needs of students in Bloomington when it comes to support and resources for mental health disparities, so what else could be beneficial?
Through my studies, I believe it is best to look into biophilic and environmental interventions in order to further benefit the mental health of students on campus.
What is biophilia?
The term biophilia was first coined in the 1960s by German American philosopher and psychoanalyst, Erich Fromm. Fromm sought to believe that humanity’s effort to seek connections and establish meaningful relationships with the natural world was an innate behavior. He used this term in his 1973 publication, The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, which defined biophilia as “the passionate love of life and of all that is alive” (Grinde et al. 2009).
Almost a decade later, the term biophilia is used again by Harvard University Professor and Evolutionary Biologist, Edward O. Wilson in his novel, Biophilia. Within this work, Wilson elaborates on the term and proposes that the human tendency to seek connections with nature and other life forms is part of our evolutionary history and genetically predetermined (Rogers, 2015).
Furthermore, there is anecdotal and qualitative evidence that infers humans are innately attracted to nature. This essentially means we find the colors, shapes, and textures to be aesthetically pleasing, evidence to our biophilic nature. Researchers, scientists, and even architects have taken biophilia and today turned it into an important concept of human health.
How biophilia connects to mental health disparities:
Previous research has indicated that adding elements of nature to our individual and communal environments can presumably induce positively valued changes in cognition and emotion. These changes can additionally impact an individual’s stress level, health and well-being. Just human contact with nature has even been reported to have many psychological benefits. These include stress reduction, reduced symptomology for depression and anxiety, positive effects on mental restoration, and improving coping with attention deficits such as increased longevity and self-reported health (Pearson & Craig, 2014).
Contact with nature is just one element that correlates positively with psychological and health benefits. Another important element we have to consider is the availability of nature in the environments around us. One would have to assume that if there is no available environment to go to and interact with, an individual is less likely to experience biophilia and establish that connection in order to reduce stress. If options and greenspaces are readily available and diverse, individuals could seek out a connection with nature and hopefully establish a love for life that aids mental health benefits.
Methodology
For this study, I used qualitative research to understand the relationship between biophilia and mental health. I intended to provide information on whether or not students on campus were aware of an innate or positive connection they might experience or feel with nature. Furthermore, I wanted to see if positive interactions with nature were beneficial for students’ mental health on campus. Lastly, does IU Bloomington’s campus have enough access to greenspace and aesthetic nature and what further interventions should be made. Overall, if there is a distinguishable benefit towards mental health when individuals interact with nature, then my hypothesis would provide useful data towards biophilic interventions on campus.
In order to gain a perspective on how to fully understand individuals biophilic interactions with nature on campus and what interventions should be made, I had to first analyze and understand previous study methods that prove importance for data collection. After researching, I found there has been many successful studies that demonstrate a relationship between positive mental health and positive interactions with nature.
The first ever collected data on benefits in mental health with nature stimuli and natural environments was conducted in 1993 by R. S. Ulrich and allowed for the continuation of discussion in this topic. This study was the first to definitively prove the Biophilia Hypothesis was correct in that humans have a tendency to maintain contact with nature. Ulrich was able to determine that exposure to nature fosters psychological well-being and reduces stress related to modern living styles. He proved this through observing patients in a controlled experiment in hospital spaces. These patients were all recovering from the same procedure, the only difference was some individuals didn’t have anything outside their window and others had aesthetic green space. Those individuals that recovered with greenspace tended to recover quicker and were more positive during rehabilitation (Ulrich, 1993).
Furthermore, a study that used relevant methodology and was also successful is recorded in the Health & Place Journal. This study sought to answer student preferences for natural environments as well as questions like what natural places university students consider beneficial to their mental health, and why. Altogether, researchers at McMaster University asked for photovoice materials from a sample group of twelve students followed by thematic analysis of photographs and post interviews. With these methods, researchers were able to distinguish a positive relationship between students’ mental health and the natural world (Windhorst & Williams, 2015). The photovoice methods utilized in this study could be important for documenting nature interactions in Bloomington. By asking individuals to submit pictures of their favorite natural environment on campus, it could help me determine which areas on campus are most beneficial as well as where these interactions are lacking.
A second study conducted in 2004 by University of Illinois alumni and colleagues used methods that showed success in addressing positive interactions with nature in residential areas. This study took place in public housing projects in Chicago. Using behavioral observations, ethnography, and personal interviews, researchers were able to determine that housing projects with green space attracted people to the outdoors, ultimately allowing individuals to develop social bonds with people nearby (Sullivan et al. 2004). Although this study doesn’t particularly single out mental health, it is important to acknowledge that social interaction is linked to benefits in brain health. These include a promoted sense of safety and security, a sense of belonging, and allows individuals to confide in one another (Umberson & Montez, 2010).
After observing these studies, I believed it was best to include methods such as ethnography, personal observations, surveying, interviews, as well as the secondary research into my own methodology.
Results & discussion:
In order to collect data through ethnography, I chose six greenspaces on campus to observe student activity and interaction. These locations were Dunn Woods, Dunn Meadow, Jordan River, Conrad Preby’s Amphitheater, Sample Gates, and Woodlawn Field. Two to three times a week, through the months of September-November, I would sit in these locations journaling things I noticed and writing down observations on student activity. An example of some entries are shown included in the picture below.
After taking observations through the first week of November, I was able to look back on all of my entries and noticed a few general trends. First and foremost, there were presumably less students on campus overall. This was something I expected as we entered online and hybrid learning environments. With the additional precautions set in the state of Indiana for COVID-19, I assumed students would be more hesitant to be on campus. In addition, more classes have switched to fully online methods, which means a trip to campus wouldn’t be necessary.
Our campus has been able to adapt to COVID-19 limitations and realizes that many students look towards IU’s resources for study spaces and areas to learn. They have been able to provide reserved study spaces for students in Wells Library as well as an additional study space located outside of the IMU.
I was able to observe that most student outdoor activity and interactions with nature were limited to Dunn Woods and Dunn Meadow. This is something I found interesting, out of six total locations, I personally noticed interactions with nature only really occurred in two campus greenspaces. Activity did occur in other areas like Jordan River, but most of my journal entries stated activity was more walk through.
My next form of data collection was survey collection. I created a really simple questionnaire through Google Forms that consisted of twelve questions and sent it out to students in my social group as well as through some of my courses. The questions I asked consisted of general information such as year at school, college enrolled in, and student home in relation to campus. These questions were followed by an inquiry that related more to my study consisting of:
- How often is student on campus?
- How often does student use IUs provided mental health services?
- Does student feel these services are made readily available?
- How often does student utilize IUs provided greenspaces, are these services made readily available?
- How often does student feel the need to destress?
- How often does student turn to the outdoors/nature to destress?
- Does student recognize innate connection to nature?
- How many examples can you think of on campus that might strengthen this connection?
- What is your favorite greenspace on campus to use as stress relief, for physical activity, or aesthetic purposes?
I received 53 responses back to this general survey which is a lot more then I initially expected. Even though this is not a very large sample size of students attending IU, it is large enough to receive responses that show importance towards my study. Some results I want to point out are included in Figure 5.
It is important to recognize that out the 53 students who replied, 53 individuals look toward the outdoors as an ecosystem service more than occasionally, 52 individuals use campus’s provided greenspaces, and 52 students recognize IU as having accessible greenspaces. Many students also recognized or experience an innate connection with nature when submersed in the outdoors. As for the favorite greenspace to interact with on campus, the top three answers I received were Dunn Woods, Dunn Meadow, and Jordan River. Two of these locations correlate with my ethnography results.
The last data I collected consisted of short in person interviews. Some of these interviews weren’t actually performed in person because of COVID, however I was able to adapt to most precautions by asking questions over Zoom and FaceTime/text message. I kept my interviews very simple and only asked two questions,
- What places on campus do you prefer to go to in order to destress, does this include nature, and why do you choose this location?
- If you were to add an additional greenspace on campus, what would it be?
I hoped to ask most people who completed the survey, however I only received responses from about 30 students. Most responses weren’t very detailed and consisted of about two to three sentences for both questions. For example, one IU senior answered,
“I like the general area of Jordan River because I’m in that area for classes more often, the water is also very calming to me. If there was an additional greenspace IU could add I’d hope it be something more interactive, whether that be another greenhouse or green designed café.”
Upon analyzing the interview responses, I was able to recognize some noticeable trends and observations that correlated to my previously collected data. These consist of favorite greenspaces to go on campus and why they are favored. In my results, the same three greenspaces observed for most student interaction in survey locations showed up once again to be favorites (Dunn Woods, Dunn Meadow, Jordan River). Additionally, I noticed a new trend of students in different programs staying in their own relative environments on campus. For instance, a lot of people I interviewed who happened to be enrolled in Kelly looked towards areas by Woodlawn Field for ecosystem services and students enrolled in The College of Arts & Sciences tended to stay more towards Jordan River and Dunn Woods. I found this very interesting and possibly important to note for further research. As for answers to my second question, a lot of students were very creative and suggested ideas such as accessible greenspace, bringing nature indoors, more interactive spaces, additional greenhouses or conservatories, rooftop gardens, etc.
Altogether, I was able to answer each of the questions I felt were important for proving my hypothesis correct. For a brief overview, students are aware and recognize innate connections they experience with nature, secondary research I conducted was able to prove a beneficial connection between mental health and interactions with nature, and Bloomington’s campus seems to have enough available greenspace. However, additional greenspace could be beneficial to increase student interaction and positively benefit mental health on campus.
I believe it is important to conduct further research in some aspects of this study. For example, many students believed that IU has enough greenspace, however only two to three of these locations are utilized. It could be beneficial to understand why this is and if preexisting greenspaces on campus need to be updated or modified to increase student interactions. Furthermore, I was able to conclude that additional biophilic greenspaces on campus could be beneficial towards aiding improvements in student mental health. Determining what greenspace would be perfect for our community and for students, whether that be a conservatory, rooftop garden, or green café, would be beneficial for further action on this topic.
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