Menu
City Know-hows
Target audience
Organizations involved in nature-based solutions or Green Care activities, health promotion professionals, and communities.
The problem
There has been an increased desire to use nature to tackle health inequalities, especially due to the recent covid-19 pandemic but also through prescribing access and activities outdoors. In particular this has been growing in the United Kingdom in the form of community gardens and care farms, but we need to increase our understanding of the impacts on health to further advocate for the expansion.
What we did and why
We raise awareness of the value of interventions such as community gardens and care farms, while advocating for radical methods to be embedded in research and present their use in a case study based around these sites.
Our study’s contribution
We add:
• Awareness of interventions and research in the use of nature for health and wellbeing
• An outline of pilot radical methods employed for use in research projects.
• A discussion of the limitations of interdisciplinary methods within the world of health geography
Impacts for city policy and practice
We suggest an increased awareness of the value of outdoor spaces across all populations, but research into the field being done so in a careful and crafted way to ensure protection of participants when investigating the impacts of health and wellbeing.
Further information
Full research article:
Mind, body and blood: advancing green care through innovative methodologies within the field of health geography by Louise M. Mitchell, Michael Hardman, Michelle L. Howarth & Penny A. Cook
Related posts
How can community consultations in planning be more effective, inclusive, and be ready for the post-pandemic era? Results from the project Community Consultation for Quality of Life find that participation in consultation can lead to increased wellbeing for individuals and communities.
This paper explores the relationship between parents’ sense of belonging and their children’s independent mobility. We found that parental satisfaction with their living environment can be influenced by their sense of belonging, ultimately creating a community with more independent children.
Rain waterfalls, patterns of dappled light, and visual connections with nature. The Walumba Elders Centre (Warmun Community, Western Australia, 2014). Photographer Peter Bennetts
