The Outdoor Care Retreat

The Outdoor Care Retreat (‘Friluftssykehuset’) at Oslo University Hospital is a cabin in the woods bordering the hospital grounds. The idea for a retreat cabin was developed by the Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Hospital (S-BUP) in cooperation with the Friluftssykehuset Foundation and the architectural firm Snøhetta. The collaboration arose from a common desire to create an inviting place in nature for patients and their families, and in 2018 the Outdoor Care Retreat was completed. Interdisciplinary follow-up of paediatric hospital patients with serious somatic diseases is important both for an integrated course of treatment and for a quick recovery. Children with serious and/or chronic diseases have a higher risk of developing mental, psychosocial and family-related problems compared to somatically healthy children (1). Moreover, this group is at greater risk of developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress (2). On the other hand, psychosocial factors can affect somatic conditions, for example modulating the impact of stress and inflammatory responses in cases of cancer (3).