The health impact of residential retreats: a systematic review

Summary & key facts

Researchers looked at studies of people who spent one or more nights at health retreats to see if those stays helped health and wellbeing. They found 23 studies involving about 2,600 people. Most studies reported some health or psychological benefit after the retreat, sometimes lasting up to five years. But the studies were mostly small, used many different ways to measure results, and often had weak methods and little follow-up. Because of that, we cannot be sure which kinds of retreats help which people, how safe they are, or whether they are worth the cost.

Key facts:

• The review found 23 studies of residential health retreats published up to February 2017.
• Those studies included about 2,600 people from different countries and groups.
• The studies used different designs: about eight were carefully controlled trials, six were less controlled trials, and nine followed groups over time without a comparison group.
• Seven studies measured objective health signs such as blood pressure or biological markers. Sixteen studies used self-reported questionnaires about psychological or spiritual states.
• Every study reported some post-retreat health benefit, with effects reported from right after the retreat up to five years later.
• Most studies were small, had poorly described methods, and had little or no long-term follow-up. That makes it hard to know how reliable the reported benefits are.
• No studies in the review reported on economic outcomes (costs or savings) or on adverse effects. This means the safety and value for money of retreats are unknown from the current evidence.
• The authors conclude that retreats may help people with a range of chronic health problems, including mental health issues, but they call for larger and better studies with longer follow-up to know who really benefits and whether retreats are safe and cost-effective.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Unhealthy lifestyles are a major factor in the development and exacerbation of many chronic diseases. Improving lifestyles though immersive residential experiences that promote healthy behaviours is a focus of the health retreat industry. This systematic review aims to identify and explore published studies on the health, wellbeing and economic impact of retreat experiences. METHODS: MEDLINE, CINAHL and PsychINFO databases were searched for residential retreat studies in English published prior to February 2017. Studies were included if they were written in English, involved an intervention program in a residential setting of one or more nights, and included before-and-after data related to the health of participants. Studies that did not meet the above criteria or contained only descriptive data from interviews or case studies were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 23 studies including eight randomised controlled trials, six non-randomised controlled trials and nine longitudinal cohort studies met the inclusion criteria. These studies included a total of 2592 participants from diverse geographical and demographic populations and a great heterogeneity of outcome measures, with seven studies examining objective outcomes such as blood pressure or biological makers of disease, and 16 studies examining subjective outcomes that mostly involved self-reported questionnaires on psychological and spiritual measures. All studies reported post-retreat health benefits ranging from immediately after to five-years post-retreat. Study populations varied widely and most studies had small sample sizes, poorly described methodology and little follow-up data, and no studies reported on health economic outcomes or adverse effects, making it difficult to make definite conclusions about specific conditions, safety or return on investment. CONCLUSIONS: Health retreat experiences appear to have health benefits that include benefits for people with chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis, various cancers, HIV/AIDS, heart conditions and mental health. Future research with larger numbers of subjects and longer follow-up periods are needed to investigate the health impact of different retreat experiences and the clinical populations most likely to benefit. Further studies are also needed to determine the economic benefits of retreat experiences for individuals, as well as for businesses, health insurers and policy makers.

Topics

Global Healthcare and Medical Tourism Migration, Aging, and Tourism Studies Travel-related health issues

Categories

General Health Professions Health Professions Health Sciences

Tags

Alternative medicine CINAHL Cohort study Environmental health Family medicine Gerontology Inclusion (mineral) Intervention (counseling) Law Medicine MEDLINE Pathology Political science Psychiatry Psychological intervention Psychology Social psychology

Conditions & symptoms

Anxiety Depression Anxiety or worry Lack of energy or motivation Sadness or low mood