@article{oai:soar-ir.repo.nii.ac.jp:00011191, author = {上原, 巖}, journal = {信州大学農学部演習林報告}, month = {Mar}, note = {Outdoor activities, including therapeutic horticulture, forest works, outdoor recreation, and so forth, have become important activities for elderly people, patients who need to rehabilitate their body functions, and treatment of persons with mental or physical disabilities. Especially, for persons with mental disabilities, outdoor activities have important meanings to stimulate their whole body functions and their consciousness from inside to outside. Therefore, horticulture, gardening, agriculture, and forestry, are sometimes regarded as outdoor treatment activities for mental disabilities. From accounts of gardening experiences to hiking in the wilderness, several personal stories testify to the healing power of being in nature, and especially, forest amenities have the possibility to supply suitable environmental conditions for treatment of mental disabilities. This study shows case studies of outdoor activities consisting of horticulture, forest activities, both of them, and their importance at treatmemt institutions for persons with mental disabilities. The researching participants were clients of Carolina Living Learning Center (CLLC) in the United States, an autism treatment institution Shirakaba no ie, and a developmental disabilities treatment institution Shin'ai no sato Matsukawa in Nagano Prefecture in Japan. Method and the purpose of the research was to investigate the importance and usefulness of multiple outdoor activities by attending the activities at three institutions as a therapeutic worker and observing the changes in the participants. The results show the common four changes of the participants, which were Physical effects-rehabilitating their body functions, emotional effects - reducing behavioral problems, stabilizing their emotions or easing autistic conditions, improving of communication abilities - beginning to express their fellings and make communicative contact, regulating their living rhythm. In each action of the outdoor activities are mixed factors of training, reaction, and rehabilitation of their physical and mental functions. All attempted were easy to cope with, clearly understandable, and in the long term. Communication skill was practically trained through the activities. Also, the clients attended the activities supported by the staff workers' counseling. Therefore, they could ease their internal frustration and stress by voluntarily attending outdoor activities and turn thier consciousness to the outside environment. The clients used their energy by attending outdoor activities and adjust their life rhythm. From all above, environmental, outdoor activities in the long term, and sympathetic instructing factors could have affected the participants and eased their disabilities. These three factors are also important to plan outdoor activities on treatment. The results of this study suggest that natural amenities can possibly supply suitable environmantal conditions for treatment and easy-understandable outdoor activities in the long term can have effects on mental disabilities treatment. This reDort was reconstructed from my doctoral dissertation., Article, 信州大学農学部演習林報告 37: 31-162(2001)}, pages = {31--162}, title = {知的障害者の療育における野外活動の効果に関する考察}, volume = {37}, year = {2001} }