“I Miss Going to that Place”: The Impact of Watching Nature Videos on the Well-Being of Informal Caregivers

Informal caregivers play an essential role in caring for persons who require assistance and in managing the health of their loved ones. Unfortunately, they need more health, leisure, and relaxation time. Nature interaction is one of many kinds of self-care intervention. It has long been regarded as a refreshing break from stressful routines, and research suggests exposure to nature interventions to improve the quality of life of caregivers. Despite not being the real thing, technology allows us alternatives that can still have some beneficial effects. In this preliminary study, we explore the benefits of natural environment videos on informal caregivers as an alternative to exposure to nature. Specifically, we are interested in the effects of their own choices versus a random video. We found that natural environment videos improve the well-being of informal caregivers in at least three key areas: valence, arousal, and negative affect. Furthermore, the effect increases when they choose the video they want to watch instead of a random video. This effect benefits the studied subjects because they need more time and energy to visit real natural environments.