Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T01:28:10.683Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Feel blue, touch green: examples of green spaces promoting mental health

Part of: Green Psychiatry Collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Claire Henderson-Wilson  and
Rona Weerasuriya
Claire Henderson-Wilson
Affiliation:
School of Health and Social Development, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia, email claire.henderson-wilson@deakin.edu.au
Rona Weerasuriya
Affiliation:
School of Health and Social Development, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The design of hospital environments with an increased focus on incorporating nature and natural features has been reported to have multiple health and well-being benefits. This paper reports on three Australian case studies that each investigated the relationship between green spaces and people's mental health. The results suggest that gardens or other green spaces should be included within plans for future healthcare design. While we acknowledge that there are a range of considerations in the allocation of healthcare resources and programmes for maximum benefit, we believe that those programmes which highlight the beneficial outcomes for people with mental illness of ‘feeling blue and touching green’ are worth implementing.

Type
Thematic Papers
Information
BJPsych International , Volume 14 , Issue 4 , November 2017 , pp. 85 - 87
Check for updates
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits noncommercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2017

References

Corazon, S. S., Stigsdotter, U. K., Nielson, A. G., et al (2010) Developing the nature-based therapy concept for people with stress related illness at the Danish healing forest garden Nacadia. Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture, 20, 35–50.Google Scholar
Osborne, R. H., Elsworth, G. R. & Whitfield, K. (2007) The Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQ): an outcomes and evaluation measure for patient education and self-management interventions for people with chronic conditions. Patient Education Counselling, 66, 192–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Osborne, R. H., Batterham, R. & Livingston, J. (2011) The evaluation of chronic disease self-management support across settings: the international experience of the Health Education Impact Questionnaire Quality Monitoring System. Nursing Clinics of North America, 46, 255–270.Google Scholar
Townsend, M., Henderson-Wilson, C., Warner, E., et al (2015) Healthy Parks, Healthy People: The State of the Evidence 2015. Report prepared for Parks Victoria, School of Health and Social Development, Deakin University, Melbourne. Available at http://www.hphpcentral.com/article/global-research-compilation-proves-strong-link-between-nature-and-human-health (last accessed September 2017).Google Scholar
van den Berg, A. E., Maas, J., Verheij, R. A., et al (2010) Green space as a buffer between stressful life events and health. Social Science and Medicine, 70, 1203–1210.Google Scholar
Velarde, M. D., Fry, G. & Tveit, M. (2007) Health effects of viewing landscapes – landscape types in environmental psychology. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 6, 99–212.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.