{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T06:19:17Z","timestamp":1787552357961,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787529600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000155","name":"Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["752-2025-1536"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["752-2025-1536"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000155","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Nature exposure is an important determinant of physical, psychological, and social development and well-being. However, it has been suggested that today\u2019s youth are less likely to engage with the natural world than generations before. This trend has been attributed, in part, to behavioral and attitudinal shifts exacerbated by the rise of sedentary lifestyles, digital hobbies, and nature disaffection. These factors have been especially pronounced for those living in urban areas. There may be an opportunity to counter this growing nature disconnection by promoting opposing behavioral and attitudinal shifts. Persuasive games offer a promising avenue for achieving this by leveraging game design to encourage nature exposure.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The primary objective of this study will be to understand to what extent a mixed-media gaming intervention can be used to investigate urban nature exposure, while also drawing attention to the therapeutic benefits associated with urban nature exposure, in a population of university-attending youth (18\u201325\u202fyears old). Participants will be assigned to either a control group or a\n                      <jats:italic>City Safari<\/jats:italic>\n                      intervention group, the intervention comprising a persuasive game modeled after \u201cbingo photography\u201d. Participants in the intervention group will be tasked with taking pictures of their urban nature surroundings. A select number of participants from the intervention group will be invited to elaborate on their pictures in a semi-structured, one-on-one interview drawing from a modified photovoice methodology. The resultant transcripts will be analyzed through thematic analysis.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The findings from this project are expected to provide the basis for knowledge communication deliverables targeted to both traditional academic and general non-academic audiences.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1913334","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T05:28:22Z","timestamp":1787549302000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Using games to draw attention to urban nature exposure and its therapeutic benefits: a study protocol"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Joonsoo Sean","family":"Lyeo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Earth, Environment and Society, McMaster University","place":["Hamilton, ON, Canada"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Allison","family":"Williams","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Earth, Environment and Society, McMaster University","place":["Hamilton, ON, Canada"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"628","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envres.2018.06.030","article-title":"The health benefits of the great outdoors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of greenspace exposure and health outcomes","volume":"166","author":"Twohig-Bennett","year":"2018","journal-title":"Environ Res"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4790","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18094790","article-title":"Associations between nature exposure and health: a review of the evidence","volume":"18","author":"Jimenez","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5146","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18105146","article-title":"Life course nature exposure and mental health outcomes: a systematic review and future directions","volume":"18","author":"Li","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"470","DOI":"10.1002\/pan3.10451","article-title":"Disconnection from nature: expanding our understanding of human\u2013nature relations","volume":"5","author":"Beery","year":"2023","journal-title":"People Nat (Hoboken, NJ)"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"94","DOI":"10.1002\/fee.1225","article-title":"Extinction of experience: the loss of human \u2014 nature interactions","volume":"14","author":"Soga","year":"2016","journal-title":"Front Ecol Environ"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"529","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph13060529","article-title":"Both direct and vicarious experiences of nature affect children\u2019s willingness to conserve biodiversity","volume":"13","author":"Soga","year":"2016","journal-title":"Int J Environ Res Public Health"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0255421","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0255421","article-title":"Urban children\u2019s connections to nature and environmental behaviors differ with age and gender","volume":"16","author":"Keith","year":"2021","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"102225","DOI":"10.1016\/j.healthplace.2019.102225","article-title":"Closure of \u2018third places\u2019? 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