Welcome to
HEAL
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In HEAL, we conduct integrated studies of human-environment interactions as they intersect with leisure and impact health and well-being. Drawing from knowledge and methods in psychology, public health, environmental epidemiology, leisure sciences, and human dimensions of natural resources, we employ an interdisciplinary approach to examine environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural conditions as well as individual-level factors that contribute to various mechanisms key to human health, well-being, and flourishing.
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HEAL HIGHLIGHTS
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New Study Published: How Does Playfulness (Re)frame the World?
Do playful people perceive, approach, and respond to their environment and life events differently than less playful individuals? Our latest study examined playfulness as a perceptual lens and its potential broader cascade effects spanning cognition, emotions, and behaviors during the pandemic. The results, published open-access in Frontiers in Psychology, revealed fascinating insights about playful reframing through selective cognitive and behavioral redirecting. Playful individuals demonstrated greater resilience through "lemonading" - creatively imagining and pursuing positive possibilities while maintaining a clear-eyed view of reality. This research has been featured in over 140 news stories across nearly 100 media outlets globally, including U.S. News & World Report, The Guardian, Forbes, and CNN. Outdoor Recreation and Mental Health: The Role of Adaptive Engagement
The Play2Cope project has recently produced two complementary studies examining the critical intersection of outdoor recreation, adaptation strategies, and mental health during the pandemic. The findings, published in Sage Open and PLOS ONE, revealed that strategic adaptations in outdoor recreation helped maintain engagement, and in turn, mental health, despite pandemic constraints. Both studies identified concerning inequities in access across age, financial, and racial demographics, highlighting the need to support individual adaptation strategies and address structural barriers to nature engagement during times of disruption. Transdisciplinary Research Initiative Funded: Building a Team to Study the Social-Ecological Impact of Night Light in Parks and Forests
The Center for the Future of Forests and Society (CFFS) has awarded a seed grant to support a team-building effort led by Drs. Sharon Shen (College of Forestry) and Kevin Houser (College of Engineering). This initiative aims to propel innovative, integrative research on the effects of anthropogenic light at night (ALAN) in park settings, including establishing an outdoor lighting laboratory to explore ALAN's impacts on visitor use, human health, ecology, energy consumption, and astronomy. Review Published: Play and Scientific Creativity
How and to what extent do scientists engage in play? Are more playful scientists also more creative? Does play contribute to scientific creativity, and under what circumstances? This critical review, published open access in the Journal of Creative Behavior, synthesizes the current state of knowledge across these interconnected areas and proposes an integrative theoretical framework to advance systematic research on fostering scientific creativity through play. The paper ranks among the most-viewed publications in the JCB, the original and longest-standing journal devoted to creativity research. Plenary Talk: The Science behind Playful Parenting
Dr. Shen was invited to give a plenary presentation at the 2023 Families Learning Conference on October 25, 2023 in Omaha, Nebraska. Addressing over 400 dedicated practitioners, educators, and researchers in family engagement and learning, Dr. Shen spoke about the science behind playful parenting and its associations with positive child outcomes, parent-child relationships, and parent well-being, as well as innovative approaches to supporting family health and learning through (re)connecting parents and caregivers to their inner playfulness. Seminar Talk: Exploring Innovative and Interdisciplinary Approaches to Better Connecting Human and Nature
Dr. Shen gave a seminar talk on May 10, 2023 on play as a transformative pathway to promoting environmental health. She invited College of Forestry faculty and students to cross the aisle and explore innovative ways to foster social-ecological well-being through interdisciplinary research collaborations. Project Funded: Climate Change Education through Outdoor Play...with Food
Junior Outdoor Food Navigators (JOFN): Fostering youth climate resilience and environmental health through positive outdoor food experiences, a project co-led by Drs. Siew Sun Wong and Sharon Shen, is awarded with funding by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences through the ASP3IRE Children’s Environmental Health Center. JOFN is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the HEAL lab, Moore Family Center for Whole Grain Foods, Nutrition and Preventative Health, OSU extension (Oregon Sea Grant, Oregon Environmental Literacy Program) and community partners (KidSpirit, 4-H Outreach Leadersihp Institute, Grand Ronde tribe) dedicated to environmental education and positive youth development. Erkkila Endowment Award for Playful Parent
The HEAL lab's research project, Playful Parent: The development and empirical evaluation of a play intervention program to enhance playfulness for parents of children with disabilities, was awarded with funding by Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation John C. Erkkila, M. D. Endowment for Health and Human Performance. The project is led by Drs. Sharon Shen and Megan MacDonald. Media Report: Adaptive Leisure Engagement Contributes to Mental Health
HEAL Lab research on pandemic leisure has been featured in multiple media outlets, including The World. The study reported broad patterns of leisure engagement among US adults, and highlighted the importance of adaptive engagement, rather than the frequency of activities, in predicting positive mental health outcomes. |
New Assessment Tool Available: Introducing APTS-10, A Brief 10-item Measure of Playfulness
As research increasingly links adult playfulness to creativity, resilience, and well-being, the need for efficient assessment tools has become critical. Our team's new study in Leisure Sciences introduces the Ten-Item Adult Playfulness Trait Scale (APTS-10), a concise yet psychometrically robust tool that preserves the five-dimensional structure of the original scale while maintaining strong criterion validity. The APTS-10 distinguishes between internal playful dispositions and their behavioral manifestations—crucial for investigating causal mechanisms in playfulness research. This efficient instrument enables broader integration of playfulness assessment across diverse research and applied settings. Free access to APTS-10 is available on this website under the Assessing Play and Playfulness project page. Review Published: Play and Playfulness in Adult-Centered Psychological Interventions for Mental Health
How do play and playfulness contribute to adult mental health? This integrative review, published open access in The Journal Positive Psychology, presents findings from reviewing three decades of empirical evidence on play or playfulness' roles--as a mediating process, moderator, or outcome--in impacting adult mental health. The paper is part of a two-year systematic review project led by Dr. Shen. Project Funded: The Playful Path to Parenting Project Received A National Award
National Center for Families Learning and the Sharon Darling Innovation Fund have awarded a grant to support Drs. Sharon Shen and Shauna Tominey's work to iterate the parental playfulness intervention model. Over 350 applicants submitted proposals and the Playful Path to Parenting was one of three proposals to be awarded funding. Drs. Shen and Tominey spoke about their work on OPB's "Think Out Loud". The Funtastic Playbook for Parents Published: Resources to Support Playful Parenting (or Simply Being a Fun Adult!)
The enhanced Playful Parent Playbook 2.0 consolidates our previous four booklets into a comprehensive resource with thoughtful additions throughout. This updated edition features new evidence-based Play Rx activities, a redesigned layout for easier navigation, and strategies informed by our latest research findings to support playful parenting. Whether you're a parent, caregiver, educator, or simply someone interested in bringing more joy, levity, and laughter into your interactions with children or the young at heart, we invite you to explore this valuable resource. Access the playbook for free on this website under the Playful Path to Parenting project page. Presentation: Child Outdoor Play and Well-being during the Pandemic
Lydia Gorrell gave a terrific presentation on November 14, 2022 about child outdoor play and well-being under sustained stress and major disruptions of the pandemic. This is part of the Play2Cope project and also Lydia's Master thesis topic. The result of this work is published in Leisure Sciences Workshop: Play Fully through Immersive Cultural Experiences
The HEAL lab presented a play workshop on November 3, 2022 at the Peavy Forest Science Center. Participants explored culturally informed playful experiences of body sensation, social connections, performance, and transgression. HEAL researcher Leland Masek led the workshop. Findings Published: Pandemic Leisure
The first set of findings from the Play2Cope project is published in January 2022 in the Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The open access paper reported important findings about the Leisure Engagement during COVID-19 and Its Association with Mental Health and Well-being in U.S. Adult. Invited Talk: The Complexity and Promises of Adult Play and Playfulness
Dr. Sharon Shen was an invited speaker at the Health & Development Lab, Florida International University. Her talk engaged students, faculty, and practitioners in conversations about the challenges associated with measurement and cultural considerations, as well as exciting new directions in adult play and playfulness research. Graduated: Colby Parkinson Joins Penn State Colby Parkinson successfully defended his Master thesis on Outdoor recreation during COVID-19: The role of adaptive strategies and associations with mental health. As part of the Play2Cope project, the result of this work is published on Sage One. Colby also received the 2022 Outstanding Graduate Student Award in the FES Department, College of Forestry and now joins the doctoral program in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management at Penn State University with a Distinguished Graduate Fellowship. |
