The restorative environment: A complementary concept for salutogenesis studies

Abstract

Restorative environments support the renewal of adaptive resources that people have depleted while trying to meet everyday demands. In this overview of theory and research on restorative environments, we illustrate the complementarity and potential for integration of a restoration perspective with the salutogenic perspective in health promotion. We show how research on restorative environments can augment understanding of salutogenesis, calling attention to the dynamics of the depletion and renewal of resources needed for maintaining and promoting health and explaining how sociophysical environments can play a positive role in people’s ongoing efforts to manage diverse adaptive resources. We also show how research on salutogenesis can augment research on restorative environments, opening for a broader view of the kinds of resources that can become depleted and the different levels on which they are organized and become available. We close by elaborating on implications of our observations for salutogenesis research and practice, with a view to advancing the integration of the two research fields.