The collaboration between the Center for Precision Health and the ECU School of Business and Law found that many aspects of going on vacation could have a positive impact on people with mental health problems or conditions.
Principal investigator Dr. june wen said the diverse team of tourism, public health and marketing experts investigated how tourism could benefit people living with dementia.
“Medical experts can recommend treatments for dementia such as music therapy, exercise, cognitive stimulation, reminiscence therapy, sensory stimulation, and adaptations to the patient’s mealtime and environment,” said Dr. Wen.
“All of these also meet often when on vacation.
“This research is one of the first to conceptually discuss how these tourist experiences could potentially work as interventions for dementia.”
Christmas fun… or treatment?
Dr Wen said the varied nature of tourism meant there were plenty of opportunities to incorporate treatments for conditions such as dementia. For example, being in new environments and having new experiences could provide cognitive and sensory stimulation.
“Exercise has been linked to mental well-being, and traveling often involves increased physical activity, such as walking more,” said Dr. Wen.
“Mealtimes are often different around the holidays: they are generally more social affairs with multiple people and family-style meals have been found to positively influence eating behavior in dementia patients.” serotonin levels
“Everything that comes together to represent a holistic tourism experience makes it easy to see how dementia patients can benefit from tourism as an intervention.”
A change in thinking
Dr. Wen said that the impact of Covid-19 on travel in recent years has raised questions about the value of tourism beyond lifestyle and economic factors. “Tourism has been found to increase physical and psychological well-being,” he said.
“So, after Covid, it is a good time to identify the place of tourism in public health, and not only for healthy tourists, but also for vulnerable groups.” Dr. Wen said that he hoped that a new line of collaborative research could begin to examine how tourism can improve the lives of people with various conditions.
“We’re trying to do something new to bring tourism and health science together,” he said.
“There will need to be more empirical research and evidence to see if tourism can become one of the medical interventions for different diseases such as dementia or depression.
“So tourism is not just about traveling and having fun; we need to rethink the role that tourism plays in modern society.”
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