Department of Geography, Environment, and Society, University of Minnesota, 414 Social Sciences, 267 19th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2018 Feb;198:77-84. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.12.024. Epub 2017 Dec 18.
Therapeutic landscapes represent a lively field of inquiry in health geography. The health benefits of green and blue spaces feature prominently across this literature, and generate rich understanding of how it feels to encounter and move through natural environments. Juxtaposed against an abundant scholarship on green and blue (and growing attention to broader 'palettes of place' including grey and brown landscapes), white spaces - environmental snow and ice - have yet to be investigated. Research on everyday experiences of snow and ice is limited, particularly for older adults potentially more vulnerable to climactic conditions given health and mobility limitations. This study aimed to characterize white space impacts on the perceived well-being of older adults. Interviews were conducted with community-dwelling men and women (n = 125, mean age 71 years) in the Minneapolis metropolitan area from June to October 2015. Extended participant observation with a sub-sample of participants (n = 6, mean age 71 years) was conducted from September 2015 to August 2016. Qualitative thematic analyses of participant statements, experiences, and understandings of harsh winter weather conditions illuminated how white spaces can both promote and diminish physical, mental, and social well-being. White spaces were fluid and relational, with potentially therapeutic effects uniquely negotiated by each participant. The findings conceive of therapeutic landscapes as contradictory spaces that can simultaneously heal and harm. The paper enriches knowledge of how (non)therapeutic landscapes operate through dynamic, embodied, and emotional geographic experiences. Articulations of ambiguity and nuance inherent to therapeutic landscapes throughout the paper deepen understanding of social determinants of health.
疗愈景观是健康地理学中一个活跃的研究领域。绿色和蓝色空间对健康的益处是该领域文献的重点，这些文献深入探讨了人们在接触和穿行自然环境时的感受。与丰富的绿色和蓝色（以及对更广泛的“地方调色板”包括灰色和棕色景观的日益关注）文献相比，白色空间——环境中的雪和冰——尚未得到研究。关于雪和冰的日常体验的研究有限，特别是对于因健康和行动能力受限而更容易受到气候条件影响的老年人。本研究旨在描述白色空间对老年人感知幸福感的影响。2015 年 6 月至 10 月，在明尼阿波利斯大都市区对 125 名（平均年龄 71 岁）社区居民进行了访谈。对 6 名（平均年龄 71 岁）参与者的子样本进行了扩展的参与者观察，从 2015 年 9 月到 2016 年 8 月。对参与者关于恶劣冬季天气条件的陈述、经历和理解的定性主题分析，阐明了白色空间如何既能促进又能减少身体、心理和社会幸福感。白色空间是流动的和关系性的，每个参与者都可以独特地协商其潜在的治疗效果。研究结果将疗愈景观视为矛盾空间，既可以治愈又可以伤害。该论文丰富了关于（非）疗愈景观通过动态、具体和情感地理体验运作的知识。整篇论文中对疗愈景观的模糊性和细微差别进行说明，加深了对健康社会决定因素的理解。
