{"id":{"repo_id":"twu","oai_identifier":"oai:twu-ir.tdl.org:11274/15183"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/twu/oai:twu-ir.tdl.org:11274/15183","repository":{"repo_id":"twu","name":"Texas Woman's University","base_url":"https://twu-ir.tdl.org/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The ecology of change in outdoor therapy (ECO-Therapy) model: A preliminary theoretical framework for nature-based pediatric occupational therapy practice","abstract":"The vital childhood occupation of outdoor play in nature is on the decline in industrialized societies around the world. Ubiquitous technology use, sedentarism, over-protective parenting, and urbanization have caused a mass human migration to indoor lifestyles characterized by a lack of connection to the outdoors. This disconnection from nature has profound implications for children because contact with nature has myriad benefits for children’s physical health and emotional well-being throughout life. Re-connecting children to nature may support improved occupational participation and performance. Occupational therapy practitioners are beginning to take their work with children outdoors into nature, but a unifying model or theoretical framework incorporating nature does not yet exist in the field of occupational therapy. The purpose of this qualitative constructivist grounded theory study was to develop a theoretical model to illustrate the process of nature-based pediatric occupational therapy, based on analysis of the perspectives of occupational therapy practitioners currently engaging in nature-based pediatric practice with children ages 0–12 years. Twenty-seven photos and 23.5 hours of interview data were analyzed. The developed theory, the Ecology of Change in Outdoor Therapy (ECO-Therapy) Model, is a preliminary interpretive explanation of the causal conditions, contextual elements, and relationships between primary actors in the nature-based pediatric occupational therapy process. The ECO-Therapy Model proposes the core mechanism of change in nature-based occupational therapy intervention involves practitioners and children braving real-life challenges outdoors together as an impetus for growing adaptive capacity, leading to improved occupational participation and performance in daily life. As a constructivist grounded theory, the ECO-Therapy Model is an interpretive theoretical analysis representative only of this sample of participants in this socio-cultural context at this historical moment in time. Future research may test and refine the ECO-Therapy Model to assess applicability in other contexts, both within and outside of the field of occupational therapy.","abstract_html":"The vital childhood occupation of outdoor play in nature is on the decline in industrialized societies around the world. Ubiquitous technology use, sedentarism, over-protective parenting, and urbanization have caused a mass human migration to indoor lifestyles characterized by a lack of connection to the outdoors. This disconnection from nature has profound implications for children because contact with nature has myriad benefits for children’s physical health and emotional well-being throughout life. Re-connecting children to nature may support improved occupational participation and performance. Occupational therapy practitioners are beginning to take their work with children outdoors into nature, but a unifying model or theoretical framework incorporating nature does not yet exist in the field of occupational therapy. The purpose of this qualitative constructivist grounded theory study was to develop a theoretical model to illustrate the process of nature-based pediatric occupational therapy, based on analysis of the perspectives of occupational therapy practitioners currently engaging in nature-based pediatric practice with children ages 0–12 years. Twenty-seven photos and 23.5 hours of interview data were analyzed. The developed theory, the Ecology of Change in Outdoor Therapy (ECO-Therapy) Model, is a preliminary interpretive explanation of the causal conditions, contextual elements, and relationships between primary actors in the nature-based pediatric occupational therapy process. The ECO-Therapy Model proposes the core mechanism of change in nature-based occupational therapy intervention involves practitioners and children braving real-life challenges outdoors together as an impetus for growing adaptive capacity, leading to improved occupational participation and performance in daily life. As a constructivist grounded theory, the ECO-Therapy Model is an interpretive theoretical analysis representative only of this sample of participants in this socio-cultural context at this historical moment in time. Future research may test and refine the ECO-Therapy Model to assess applicability in other contexts, both within and outside of the field of occupational therapy.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Figueroa, Laura Park"],"institution":"Texas Woman's University","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Occupational Therapy","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Poskey, Gail"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Pickens, Noralyn D","Rose, Katherine K"],"year":2023,"date_issued":"May 2023","date_published":"May 2023","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:05:09Z","subjects":["Occupational therapy for children","Nature-based therapy","Outdoor recreation for children with disabilities","Outdoor therapy","Nature therapy","Pediatric occupational therapy","Occupational therapy","Children","Pediatrics","Grounded theory"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/11274/15183","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Poskey, Gail"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Pickens, Noralyn D","Rose, Katherine K"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Figueroa, Laura Park"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2023-06-28T19:54:29Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2023-06-28T19:54:29Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["May 2023"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Occupational Therapy"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Texas Woman's University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Occupational therapy for children","Nature-based therapy","Outdoor recreation for children with disabilities","Outdoor therapy","Nature therapy","Pediatric occupational therapy","Occupational therapy","Children","Pediatrics","Grounded theory"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/11274/15183"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Per author request, the embargo has been extended to TWU-allowed maximum of 5 years and will expire on May 31, 2028."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The vital childhood occupation of outdoor play in nature is on the decline in industrialized societies around the world. Ubiquitous technology use, sedentarism, over-protective parenting, and urbanization have caused a mass human migration to indoor lifestyles characterized by a lack of connection to the outdoors. This disconnection from nature has profound implications for children because contact with nature has myriad benefits for children’s physical health and emotional well-being throughout life. Re-connecting children to nature may support improved occupational participation and performance. Occupational therapy practitioners are beginning to take their work with children outdoors into nature, but a unifying model or theoretical framework incorporating nature does not yet exist in the field of occupational therapy. The purpose of this qualitative constructivist grounded theory study was to develop a theoretical model to illustrate the process of nature-based pediatric occupational therapy, based on analysis of the perspectives of occupational therapy practitioners currently engaging in nature-based pediatric practice with children ages 0–12 years. Twenty-seven photos and 23.5 hours of interview data were analyzed. The developed theory, the Ecology of Change in Outdoor Therapy (ECO-Therapy) Model, is a preliminary interpretive explanation of the causal conditions, contextual elements, and relationships between primary actors in the nature-based pediatric occupational therapy process. The ECO-Therapy Model proposes the core mechanism of change in nature-based occupational therapy intervention involves practitioners and children braving real-life challenges outdoors together as an impetus for growing adaptive capacity, leading to improved occupational participation and performance in daily life. As a constructivist grounded theory, the ECO-Therapy Model is an interpretive theoretical analysis representative only of this sample of participants in this socio-cultural context at this historical moment in time. Future research may test and refine the ECO-Therapy Model to assess applicability in other contexts, both within and outside of the field of occupational therapy."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The ecology of change in outdoor therapy (ECO-Therapy) model: A preliminary theoretical framework for nature-based pediatric occupational therapy practice"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Poskey, Gail"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Pickens, Noralyn D","Rose, Katherine K"],"dc:creator":["Figueroa, Laura Park"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2023-06-28T19:54:29Z"],"dc:date.available":["2023-06-28T19:54:29Z"],"dc:date.issued":["May 2023"],"dc:description":["Per author request, the embargo has been extended to TWU-allowed maximum of 5 years and will expire on May 31, 2028."],"dc:description.abstract":["The vital childhood occupation of outdoor play in nature is on the decline in industrialized societies around the world. Ubiquitous technology use, sedentarism, over-protective parenting, and urbanization have caused a mass human migration to indoor lifestyles characterized by a lack of connection to the outdoors. This disconnection from nature has profound implications for children because contact with nature has myriad benefits for children’s physical health and emotional well-being throughout life. Re-connecting children to nature may support improved occupational participation and performance. Occupational therapy practitioners are beginning to take their work with children outdoors into nature, but a unifying model or theoretical framework incorporating nature does not yet exist in the field of occupational therapy. The purpose of this qualitative constructivist grounded theory study was to develop a theoretical model to illustrate the process of nature-based pediatric occupational therapy, based on analysis of the perspectives of occupational therapy practitioners currently engaging in nature-based pediatric practice with children ages 0–12 years. Twenty-seven photos and 23.5 hours of interview data were analyzed. The developed theory, the Ecology of Change in Outdoor Therapy (ECO-Therapy) Model, is a preliminary interpretive explanation of the causal conditions, contextual elements, and relationships between primary actors in the nature-based pediatric occupational therapy process. The ECO-Therapy Model proposes the core mechanism of change in nature-based occupational therapy intervention involves practitioners and children braving real-life challenges outdoors together as an impetus for growing adaptive capacity, leading to improved occupational participation and performance in daily life. As a constructivist grounded theory, the ECO-Therapy Model is an interpretive theoretical analysis representative only of this sample of participants in this socio-cultural context at this historical moment in time. Future research may test and refine the ECO-Therapy Model to assess applicability in other contexts, both within and outside of the field of occupational therapy."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/11274/15183"],"dc:language.iso":["English"],"dc:subject":["Occupational therapy for children","Nature-based therapy","Outdoor recreation for children with disabilities","Outdoor therapy","Nature therapy","Pediatric occupational therapy","Occupational therapy","Children","Pediatrics","Grounded theory"],"dc:title":["The ecology of change in outdoor therapy (ECO-Therapy) model: A preliminary theoretical framework for nature-based pediatric occupational therapy practice"],"dc:type":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Occupational Therapy"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"thesis:institution_name":["Texas Woman's University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:05:09Z"}