Exploring pathways linking greenspace to health: Theoretical and methodological guidance.

Importance Neighborhood physical conditions have been associated with mental illness and may partially explain persistent socioeconomic disparities in the prevalence of poor mental health Objective To evaluate whether interventions to green vacant urban land can improve self-reported mental health Design, Setting, and Participants This citywide cluster randomized trial examined 442 community-dwelling sampled adults living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, within 110 vacant lot clusters randomly assigned to 3 study groups Participants were followed up for 18 months preintervention and postintervention This trial was conducted from October 1, 2011, to November 30, 2014 Data were analyzed from July 1, 2015, to April 16, 2017 Interventions The greening intervention involved removing trash, grading the land, planting new grass and a small number of trees, installing a low wooden perimeter fence, and performing regular monthly maintenance The trash cleanup intervention involved removal of trash, limited grass mowing where possible, and regular monthly maintenance The control group received no intervention Main Outcomes and Measures Self-reported mental health measured by the Kessler-6 Psychological Distress Scale and the components of this scale Results A total of 110 clusters containing 541 vacant lots were enrolled in the trial and randomly allocated to the following 1 of 3 study groups: the greening intervention (37 clusters [336%]), the trash cleanup intervention (36 clusters [327%]), or no intervention (37 clusters [336%]) Of the 442 participants, the mean (SD) age was 446 (151) years, 264 (597%) were female, and 194 (439%) had a family income less than $25 000 A total of 342 participants (774%) had follow-up data and were included in the analysis Of these, 117 (342%) received the greening intervention, 107 (313%) the trash cleanup intervention, and 118 (345%) no intervention Intention-to-treat analysis of the greening intervention compared with no intervention demonstrated a significant decrease in participants who were feeling depressed (−415%; 95% CI, −636% to −59%;P = 03) and worthless (−509%; 95% CI, −747% to −47%;P = 04), as well as a nonsignificant reduction in overall self-reported poor mental health (−628%; 95% CI, −862% to 04%;P = 051) For participants living in neighborhoods below the poverty line, the greening intervention demonstrated a significant decrease in feeling depressed (−687%; 95% CI, −865% to −275%;P = 007) Intention-to-treat analysis of those living near the trash cleanup intervention compared with no intervention showed no significant changes in self-reported poor mental health Conclusions and Relevance Among community-dwelling adults, self-reported feelings of depression and worthlessness were significantly decreased, and self-reported poor mental health was nonsignificantly reduced for those living near greened vacant land The treatment of blighted physical environments, particularly in resource-limited urban settings, can be an important treatment for mental health problems alongside other patient-level treatments Trial Registration isrctnorg Identifier:ISRCTN92582209

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Effect of Greening Vacant Land on Mental Health of Community-Dwelling Adults: A Cluster Randomized Trial

A systematic review of the relationship between objective measurements of the urban environment and psychological distress

Pathways linking biodiversity to human health: A conceptual framework

Income inequality and mental illness-related morbidity and resilience: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background The common mental disorders (CMDs) of anxiety and depression are the most common form of poor mental health in the general population. Evidence from the small number of previous cohort studies on the role of neighbourhood factors in mental health is inconclusive. We tested the hypothesis that high levels of neighbourhood social cohesion modify an adverse association between change in individual mental health and neighbourhood deprivation.
Method We carried out a longitudinal multilevel analysis using data from the Caerphilly Health and Social Needs Cohort Study with a 7-year follow-up (n = 4426; age range 18–74 years at baseline). Neighbourhood deprivation and neighbourhood social cohesion were assessed at baseline and change in mental health between follow-up and baseline was assessed using the five-item Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5).
Results Residence in the most deprived neighbourhoods was negatively associated with change in mental health, after adjusting for baseline individual socio-economic risk factors and transitions in life events. This negative effect was significantly reduced in high social cohesion neighbourhoods. The predicted change in mental health score was calculated for the 10th and 90th centiles of the household low-income distribution. The difference between them was −2.8 in the low social cohesion group and 1.1 in the high cohesion group. The difference between the groups was 3.9 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.2–7.6].
Conclusions The public health burden of poor mental health and mental health inequality could potentially be reduced by strengthening social cohesion in deprived neighbourhoods. This offers a mechanism to address the adverse effect of neighbourhood deprivation on population mental health.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033291713003255

Effect of neighbourhood deprivation and social cohesion on mental health inequality: a multilevel population-based longitudinal study

A door operator for a reversibly operable door, such as a garage door, includes a frame and a carriage movably mounted on the frame and attached to a door for moving the door between open and closed positions. A flexible drive member, such as an endless chain, extends on the frame and is capable of moving the carriage. A drive train is on the frame connected for moving the flexible drive member. A motor housing is mounted on the frame within the motor housing and connected to the drive train. The motor has a shaft extending from the motor housing and engaging the drive train. A bearing assembly that includes metal thrust bearings is on the shaft adjacent to the motor. The metal thrust bearing assembly increases the performance of the electric motor, and thus provides a more powerful motor without changing to a larger motor or otherwise modifying the motor design. The motor is mounted on the frame so as to allow the shaft freely to move axially relative to the motor to permit the shaft to self-align. The rotor thus seeks its position of least resistance and maintains this position without manual adjustment, providing an improvement in motor performance.

Motor assembly for chain-drive garage door operator

A garage door operator (10) is disclosed to have a front coupling (60, 90) for a threaded screw (30) of the operator (10) and the rotor of the motor (20). The coupling (60, 90) includes a first coupling device (60) that is a unitary coupling member with opposing recesses (68B, 68A) for receiving each of the rotor shaft (26F) and an end portion (74) of the screw (30). The unitary coupling member thereby connects the screw (30) to the motor (20) for torque transmission from the motor. The second coupling device includes a thrust containment device (92) that is supported on the screw (30), and an intermediate assembly (94, 102, 104, 112, 110, 114) disposed between the thrust containment device and an end portion (44) of the guide rail (40) of the door operator. A retainer component (94) of the intermediate assembly restricts expansion of the thrust containment device.

Clutchless screw drive door operator

A door operator for a reversibly operable door includes a frame and a carriage movably mounted on the frame and attached to a door for moving the door between open and closed positions. A drive member, specifically a roller chain, extends along the frame and moves the carriage. A drive train is provided within a housing and is connected for moving the drive member, and a control circuit is provided for controlling the drive train to open and close the door. A pair of limit switches is mounted within the housing and connected to the control circuit for stopping the drive train when the door has reached a completed position. A pair of limit cams are adjustably mounted on a limit wheel within the housing and separate from the carriage for engaging the limit switches. The limit wheel, which is separate from the drive member, is connected to the drive train to rotate when the drive train moves the carriage. The placement of limit switches and associated connecting wiring along the frame in the garage ceiling is eliminated. The limit cams can be easily and automatically positioned on the limit wheel by pushing a single switch without any manual movement of the limit switches or of the movable cams that contact the limit switches.

Gregory E Williams

Papers

Effect of neighbourhood deprivation and social cohesion on mental health inequality: a multilevel population-based longitudinal study

Motor assembly for chain-drive garage door operator

Clutchless screw drive door operator

Limit switch arrangement for garage door operator