COVID-19 Medical Workers Exhausted in Mind and Body Find Healing in the Forest

Opportunities for 'Forest Healing' for COVID-19 Frontline Medical Staff through Inter-Ministerial Collaboration
Over 5,100 Participants Experience Rest-Focused Forest Programs at National Forest Education and Healing Facilities from July to September
Park Jong-ho, Korea Forest Service Chief, "Hope Nature Rewards the Dedication of the Covengers"

Visitors at Yeongju Forest Healing Center are experiencing forest healing programs while walking along the forest trails. Photo by Korea Forest Service

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] “We will support medical staff leading the fight against infectious diseases to receive healing in forests through interdepartmental collaboration.” On the 28th, Park Jong-ho, head of the Korea Forest Service, expressed the medical staff’s will for forest healing through the ‘Forest Care Program.’

As the COVID-19 pandemic prolongs, the role of medical personnel working on the front lines of quarantine has become prominent. They are also called ‘Covenjers’ by the public. Covenjers is a newly coined term combining COVID-19 and Avengers, likening the medical staff struggling in quarantine sites to heroes.

However, even medical staff nicknamed Covenjers face difficulties behind the scenes. Due to the prolonged COVID-19 situation, accumulated fatigue, and the need to continuously work in tents and shelters wearing protective suits and gear in the summer heat, they experience significant challenges.

In fact, a ‘COVID-19 Awareness Survey’ conducted last month by the Gyeonggi-do Public Health Medical Support Group and Professor Yoo Myung-soon’s team from Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Health, targeting 1,112 medical and field response team members, found that 62.9% of respondents reported ‘emotional exhaustion due to COVID-19 duties.’

Conversely, 83.4% of the medical staff who participated in the survey answered the question about willingness to work on COVID-19 response by stating, “I will continue the work assigned to me as long as the COVID-19 situation continues,” indicating the psychological burden they carry on site. This highlights the increasing need for consideration and support for medical personnel responding to COVID-19.

Participants in a forest healing program meditating with their eyes closed in the forest. Forest healing focuses on the concept of healing rather than treatment, aiming to soothe the mind and body tired from daily life and restore a sense of stability. Provided by the Korea Forest Service

The Korea Forest Service’s plan to promote the Forest Care Program for medical staff, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, aligns with this purpose. It aims to prevent frontline responders, including fatigued medical staff, from being exposed to secondary trauma such as post-traumatic stress by providing rest and psychological healing support in forests.

The Forest Care Program will be conducted from July to September at 11 national forest education and healing facilities nationwide (2 in Gangwon region, 2 in Chungcheong region, 2 in Jeolla region, and 5 in Gyeongsang region). The target participants are 5,700 doctors, nurses, and hospital workers who contributed to COVID-19 response at 74 infectious disease-dedicated hospitals across the country.

The program is divided into day programs and overnight programs (1 night 2 days, 2 nights 3 days). Participants, including family units, will experience rest-focused activities using forest healing factors such as phytoncides, abdominal breathing, and hammock experiences. All meals, accommodation, and forest healing activities related to program participation are provided free of charge.

Above all, the Korea Forest Service emphasizes that the Forest Care Program enables mental and physical healing solely through forest experience activities without any medical treatment. This was also confirmed through participants of the pilot Forest Care Program conducted last month.

Before fully launching the Forest Care Program, the Korea Forest Service conducted a pilot program on the 25th and 26th of last month at the Yeongju Healing Center for 18 medical staff and their families from the National Bugok Hospital.

The Forest Science Institute has found through research that healing factors found in forests, such as scenery, phytoncides, negative ions, oxygen, sounds, and sunlight, are effective in enhancing positive human emotions and reducing negative ones. Provided by the Korea Forest Service

Additionally, pre- and post-program evaluations and satisfaction surveys were conducted, confirming psychological positive effects and high satisfaction levels among participants through measurable indicators.

At that time, participants showed improvement in emotional stability, with reductions in worry and fear emotions (from 88.7 points to 96.53 points), and decreases in tension, anger, depression, and fatigue in mood states (from -1.23 points to -5.30 points). The overall program satisfaction scored an average of 4.0 out of 5, indicating relatively high approval.

Park Jong-ho, head of the Korea Forest Service, said, “It is meaningful to promote the Forest Care Program for COVID-19 medical staff through interdepartmental cooperation. We expect that forest healing activities through the Forest Care Program will be a gift to the Covenjers who have sacrificed themselves on the front lines of quarantine.”

He added, “The Korea Forest Service plans to explore ways to extend forest healing not only to COVID-19 responders but also to the general public, including COVID-19 recovered patients, through interdepartmental cooperation and public-private partnerships to help them return to daily life.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.