Audio-guided and mindfulness-based forest bathing in moderately affected Long/Post-COVID patients: A pre-post pilot-study

Objective: Long/Post-COVID patients are in urgent need of specialized treatment. Forest bathing has shown to promote health and well-being, and thus may be an appropriate treatment option. This pilot study aimed to investigate both the feasibility of a two-week audio-guided and mindfulness-based forest bathing intervention and pre-to-post symptom changes in Long/Post-COVID patients. Methods: A repeated-measures design was employed to collect self-reported data on Long/Post-COVID symptoms, fatigue, well-being and stress-coping strategies from moderately affected Long/Post-COVID patients (N = 46, N = 36 included; recruited through media) prior to and following participation in the forest bathing program. Pulse rate was monitored through smartwatches. Feasibility was assessed by analysis of dropout rates. Results: The dropout rate was 22 % due to physical and environmental conditions. We observed decreased overall Long/Post-COVID symptoms (p < .001) and fatigue (p < .001), increased well-being (p < .001) and a more adaptive use of stress-coping strategies (p < .01) over time. Participants` pulse rate fell within the normal range after a forest "walk" (p < .001). Conclusion: Our results suggest that further research on audio-guided and mindfulness-based forest bathing is warranted, since this approach may offer a feasible and cost-effective method for the complementary treatment of moderate Long/Post-COVID.