The impact of green spaces on mental health in urban settings: a scoping review

doi:10.1080/09638237.2020.1755027

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The impact of green spaces on mental health in urban settings: a scoping review

Journal Article•DOI•

The impact of green spaces on mental health in urban settings: a scoping review

A Callaghan¹, Geoff McCombe¹, Aine Harrold¹, C McMeel¹, Gerald Mills¹, Niamh Moore-Cherry¹, Walter Cullen¹ - Show less +3 more•Institutions (1)

University College Dublin¹

04 Mar 2021-Journal of Mental Health (Informa UK Limited)-Vol. 30, Iss: 2, pp 179-193

TL;DR: The findings suggest that while green spaces are associated with positive mental health outcomes, most studies were cross-sectional in nature and provided limited evidence for association.

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Abstract: Background: Our planet is currently experiencing the largest wave of urban growth in history, with 55% of the world’s population (4.2 billion people) currently living in urban areas, a figure set t...

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Journal Article•DOI•

The 2022 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: health at the mercy of fossil fuels

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jane

01 Nov 2022-The Lancet

TL;DR: The impact of climate change on health, social, and economic issues was highlighted in the 2022 report of the Lancet Countdown as mentioned in this paper , where the authors pointed out that climate change is increasingly affecting the foundations of human health and wellbeing, exacerbating the vulnerability of the world's populations to concurrent health threats.

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165 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

The 2022 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: health at the mercy of fossil fuels

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Marina Romanello, Claudia Di Napoli, Paul Drummond, Carole Green, Harry Kennard, Pete Lampard, Daniel Scamman, Nigel W. Arnell, Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson, Lea Berrang Ford, Kristine Belesova, Kathryn Bowen, Wenjia Cai, Max Callaghan, Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, Jonathan Chambers, Kim Robin van Daalen, Carole Dalin, Niheer Dasandi, Shouro Dasgupta, Michael Davies, Paula Dominguez-Salas, Robert Cesar Dubrow, Kristie L. Ebi, Matthew J. Eckelman, Paul Ekins, Luis E. Escobar, Lucien Georgeson, Hilary Graham, Samuel H Gunther, Ian Hamilton, Yu Hang, Risto Hänninen, Stella M. Hartinger, Kehan He, Jeremy J. Hess, Shih Che Hsu, Slava Mikhaylov, Louis Jamart, Ollie Jay, Ilan Kelman, Gregor Kiesewetter, Patrick L. Kinney, Tord Kjellstrom, Dominic Kniveton, Jason Kai Wei Lee, Bruno Lemke, Yang Liu, Zhao Liu, Melissa C. Lott, Martin Lotto Batista, Rachel Lowe, Frances A S MacGuire, Maquins Odhiambo Sewe, Jaime Martinez-Urtaza, Mark A. Maslin, Lucy McAllister, Alice McGushin, Celia McMichael, Zhifu Mi, James Milner, Kelton Minor, Jan C. Minx, Nahid Mohajeri, Maziar Moradi-Lakeh, Karyn Morrissey, Simon Munzert, Kris A. Murray, Tara Neville, Maria Nilsson, Nick Obradovich, Megan B. O'Hare, Tadj Oreszczyn, Matthias Otto, Fereidoon Owfi, Olivia Pearman, Mahnaz Rabbaniha, Elizabeth J. Z. Robinson, Joacim Rocklöv, Renee N Salas, Jan C. Semenza, Jodi D. Sherman, Liuhua Shi, Joy Shumake-Guillemot, Grant Silbert, Mikhail Sofiev, Marco Springmann, Jennifer D. Stowell, Meisam Tabatabaei, Jon Taylor, Joaquin Trinanes, Fabian Wagner, Paul Wilkinson, Matthew Winning, Marisol Yglesias-González, Shihui Zhang, Peng Gong, Hugh Montgomery, Anthony Costello - Show less +95 more

01 Oct 2022-The Lancet

153 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Does greenery experienced indoors and outdoors provide an escape and support mental health during the COVID-19 quarantine?

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Angel M. Dzhambov¹, Peter Lercher², Matthew H. E. M. Browning³, Drozdstoy Stoyanov¹, Nadezhda Petrova¹, Stoyan Novakov¹, Donka D. Dimitrova¹ - Show less +3 more•Institutions (3)

Medical University Plovdiv¹, Graz University of Technology², Clemson University³

01 May 2021-Environmental Research

TL;DR: Students who spent most of their time at home during the COVID-19 epidemic experienced better mental health when exposed to more greenery, and the mental health-supportive effects of indoor greenery were largely explained by increased feelings of being away while at home.

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134 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Clinical Ecopsychology: The Mental Health Impacts and Underlying Pathways of the Climate and Environmental Crisis.

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Myriam V. Thoma¹, Nicolas Rohleder², Shauna L. Rohner¹•Institutions (2)

University of Zurich¹, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg²

21 May 2021-Frontiers in Psychiatry

TL;DR: In this article, a synergy of literature provides a current summary of the adverse mental health impacts of the climate and environmental crisis from the perspective of clinical psychology, including biological, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and social pathways.

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Abstract: Humankind is confronted with progressing climate change, pollution, environmental degradation, and/or destruction of the air, soil, water, and ecosystems. The climate and environmental crisis is probably one of the greatest challenges in the history of humankind. It not only poses a serious current and continuing threat to physical health, but is also an existing and growing hazard to the mental health of millions of people worldwide. This synergy of literature provides a current summary of the adverse mental health impacts of the climate and environmental crisis from the perspective of Clinical Psychology. Furthermore, it presents potential underlying processes, including biological, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and social pathways. The existing data suggest that the climate and environmental crisis not only acts as a direct stressor, but can also exert a detrimental impact on the various pathways, with the potential to amplify an individual's biopsychosocial vulnerability to develop mental ill-health. This is a call for an increased investigation into this emerging research field of Clinical Ecopsychology by clinical psychologists and other researchers.

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24 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Exploring uncharted territory: Do urban greenspaces support mental health in low- and middle-income countries?

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Maximilian Nawrath¹, Solène Guenat¹, Helen Elsey², Martin Dallimer¹•Institutions (2)

University of Leeds¹, University of York²

01 Mar 2021-Environmental Research

TL;DR: Based on the evidence reviewed here, exposure to urban greenspaces can support multiple mental health outcomes in upper-middle-income countries, however, the authors still know little about poorer, rapidly urbanising countries.

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19 citations

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Journal Article•DOI•

Patients’ Responsibilities in Medical Ethics

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Zhu Fengqing

28 Sep 2016-Philosophy study

TL;DR: It is argued that certain duties of patients counterbalance an otherwise unfair captivity of doctors as helpers and that vulnerability does not exclude obligation.

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Abstract: There has been a shift from the general presumption that “doctor knows best” to a heightened respect for patient autonomy. Medical ethics remains one-sided, however. It tends (incorrectly) to interpret patient autonomy as mere participation in decisions, rather than a willingness to take the consequences. In this respect, medical ethics remains largely paternalistic, requiring doctors to protect patients from the consequences of their decisions. This is reflected in a one-sided account of duties in medical ethics. Medical ethics may exempt patients from obligations because they are the weaker or more vulnerable party in the doctor-patient relationship. We argue that vulnerability does not exclude obligation. We also look at others ways in which patients’ responsibilities flow from general ethics: for instance, from responsibilities to others and to the self, from duties of citizens, and from the responsibilities of those who solicit advice. Finally, we argue that certain duties of patients counterbalance an otherwise unfair captivity of doctors as helpers.

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17,373 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Scoping studies: towards a methodological framework

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Hilary Arksey¹, Lisa O'Malley¹•Institutions (1)

University of York¹

01 Feb 2005-International Journal of Social Research Methodology

TL;DR: A framework for conducting a scoping study is outlined based on recent experiences of reviewing the literature on services for carers for people with mental health problems and it is suggested that a wider debate is called for about the role of the scoped study in relation to other types of literature reviews.

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Abstract: This paper focuses on scoping studies, an approach to reviewing the literature which to date has received little attention in the research methods literature. We distinguish between different types of scoping studies and indicate where these stand in relation to full systematic reviews. We outline a framework for conducting a scoping study based on our recent experiences of reviewing the literature on services for carers for people with mental health problems. Where appropriate, our approach to scoping the field is contrasted with the procedures followed in systematic reviews. We emphasize how including a consultation exercise in this sort of study may enhance the results, making them more useful to policy makers, practitioners and service users. Finally, we consider the advantages and limitations of the approach and suggest that a wider debate is called for about the role of the scoping study in relation to other types of literature reviews.

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16,728 citations

Book•

The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective

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Rachel Kaplan¹, Stephen Kaplan•Institutions (1)

University of Michigan¹

28 Jul 1989

TL;DR: A study of the natural environment, people, and the relationship between them is presented in this paper, where the authors offer a research-based analysis of the vital psychological role that nature plays.

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Abstract: A study of the natural environment, people, and the relationship between them. The authors offer a research-based analysis of the vital psychological role that nature plays. They try to understand how people perceive nature and what kinds of natural environments they prefer.

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4,845 citations

"The impact of green spaces on menta..." refers background in this paper

...An early theory by Kaplan & Kaplan proposed that access to green spaces in urban environments allows the mental fatigue of modern life to be countered by “psychological restoration” (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Nature and Health

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Terry Hartig¹, Richard Mitchell, Sjerp de Vries², Howard Frumkin³•Institutions (3)

Uppsala University¹, Wageningen University and Research Centre², University of Washington³

18 Mar 2014-Annual Review of Public Health

TL;DR: This work focuses on nature as represented by aspects of the physical environment relevant to planning, design, and policy measures that serve broad segments of urbanized societies and considers research on pathways between nature and health involving air quality, physical activity, social cohesion, and stress reduction.

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Abstract: Urbanization, resource exploitation, and lifestyle changes have diminished possibilities for human contact with nature in many societies. Concern about the loss has helped motivate research on the health benefits of contact with nature. Reviewing that research here, we focus on nature as represented by aspects of the physical environment relevant to planning, design, and policy measures that serve broad segments of urbanized societies. We discuss difficulties in defining “nature” and reasons for the current expansion of the research field, and we assess available reviews. We then consider research on pathways between nature and health involving air quality, physical activity, social cohesion, and stress reduction. Finally, we discuss methodological issues and priorities for future research. The extant research does describe an array of benefits of contact with nature, and evidence regarding some benefits is strong; however, some findings indicate caution is needed in applying beliefs about those benefits,...

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2,046 citations

"The impact of green spaces on menta..." refers background in this paper

...…of stressful life events, (Van den Berg et al., 2010), decreasing maternal depression (R. McEachan et al., 2016), increasing social cohesion (Gonzalez & Kirkevold, 2016; Hartig et al., 2014), and increasing general psychological well-being (Annerstedt et al., 2012; Triguero-Mas et al., 2015)....
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Journal Article•DOI•

Tracking restoration in natural and urban field settings.

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Terry Hartig¹, Gary W. Evans², Larry D. Jamner³, Deborah S. Davis³, Tommy Gärling⁴ - Show less +1 more•Institutions (4)

Uppsala University¹, Cornell University², University of California, Irvine³, University of Gothenburg⁴

01 Jun 2003-Journal of Environmental Psychology

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared psychophysiological stress recovery and directed attention restoration in natural and urban field settings using repeated measures of ambulatory blood pressure, emotion, and attention collected from 112 randomly assigned young adults.

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1,689 citations

"The impact of green spaces on menta..." refers background or methods in this paper

...Four studies used a combination of both self-reported measures and physiological measures to measure mental health(Ambrey, 2016; Bratman et al., 2015; Hartig et al., 2003; Roe et al., 2013)....
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...Specific interventions included a nature-based horticultural therapy (Vujcic et al., 2017), a 90min nature walk (Bratman et al., 2015), a virtual “wild” nature experience (McAllister et al., 2017) and sitting in a room with tree views, then walking in a nature reserve (Hartig et al., 2003)....
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...…g (W EM W BS ) Ac ce ss an d ex po su re us in g a di gi ta l sp at ia l (p ol yg on ) da ta ba se Po si tiv e viewing and observing green spaces (Hartig et al., 2003) (b) the synergistic relationship between physical activity and green spaces on mental health (Ambrey, 2016) and (c) the ability…...
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...Physiological measures of mental health Four studies used a combination of self-reported and physiological measures to either directly or indirectly measure mental health (Ambrey, 2016; Bratman et al., 2015; Hartig et al., 2003; Roe et al., 2013)....
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...Subjective wellbeing was a common measure of mental health used in eight studies(Ambrey, 2016; Hartig et al., 2003; Houlden et al., 2019; Houlden et al., 2017; Mitchell et al., 2015; Stigsdotter et al., 2010; White et al., 2017; Wood et al., 2017)....
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