La ricerca del benessere attraverso la permanenza in ambienti naturali: uno studio di caso in epoca Covid-19

Abstract: Since March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed lifestyles in relation with the external environment, in particular nature. The permanence in natural environments, the relationship with the outside and with the green that surrounds us reveal, in general, important elements of personal and collective well-being, both during the usual daily life but also and above all in the current pandemic crisis, that has dramatically changed everyone’s life habits and has disrupted interpersonal relationships and the relationship with the outdoor world, often observed from a window. As part of the CNR FOE-Nutrage project “Nutrizione, Alimentazione e Invecchiamento attivo”, subtask 3.6.4 “Well-being search in natural environments”, a case study was conducted with the aim of investigating, through desk analysis and field surveys, the relationship between the environment and well-being on a sample of people over 65 years of age - considered at high risk during the current COVID-19 pandemic - residing mainly in Calabria (southern Italy) and Lombardia (northern Italy). The overall vision integrated good lifestyles and permanence in natural environments with the perspective of disease prevention and maintenance of the psycho-physical health. Results showed that the sample interviewed, despite having changed during the lockdown of March-April 2020 the type of environment frequented and reduced the time spent outside, did not give up walking, attending outdoor spaces and taking care of the house greenery (plants and terraces) for their psycho-physical well-being. The study is part of a vision extensively investigated by the scientific literature on the influence of environmental factors on the psycho-physical well-being of people, and, in particular, on the importance of ecosystem services and of the “Green-care”.