Demografisk udvikling peger i retning af en signifikant øgning i antallet af ældre og gamle mennesker. Dette skaber ifølge WHO en udfordring for regeringerne for at opstille en politik, der øger menneskers mulighed for at forblive aktive op i alderdommen. Opfattelsen er, at der bør være mere vægt på sundhedsfremme. Dette er en kvalitativ studie af, hvilken betydning naturen har for ældre (60+) menneskers oplevelse af velvære, og hvilket nærmiljø de foretrækker. Ved analyse af 12 semi-strukturerede interviews, viser fund, at naturens værdi er meget høj blandt informanterne, og at naturoplevelser medvirker til deres følelse af velvære. De opfatter deres nærmiljø som en del af naturen, og de foretrækker især deres have og terrasse. Et nyt fund i denne studie er, at informanterne specielt understreger lysets betydning for deres velvære. Perspektivet i studien er, at det bør overvejes at udnytte natur som en ressource i sundhedspolitik.

Demographic development points to a significant increase in elderly and old people, which according to WHO is creating challenges for governments to make policies, that increase the opportunities for people to stay active as they age. The point is that there should be more emphasis on health promotion. This is a qualitative study on what impact nature has on elderly (60+) peoples experience of well-being, and what kind of nearby environment they prefer. Analysing 12 semi-structured interviews, the findings are, that the value of nature is very high amongst the informants and that nature tributes to their well-being. To them, their nearby environment is part of nature, and they particularly prefer garden and terraces. New findings in this study are, that the informants emphasis especially how much nature’s light means to them. The perspectives of this study suggest that health policies consider nature as a resource in health promotion