Researching natural and physical environments for wellbeing

Ben WheelerResearch Fellow

Research Areas

ECEHH research considers both the positive consequences and threats posed by interacting with our environment, both anthropogenic and natural

Interdisciplinary – psychology, epidemiology, geography, sociology, policy, economics, ecology, microbiology…

Health and Wellbeing from Natural Environments

Not a new concept

• Gardens of Egyptian nobility

• Walled gardens of Mesopotamia

• Solvitur Ambulando (“it is solved by walking”)

Images: British Museum and www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging_Gardens_of_Babylon

Tradition continued into modern times

• Urban parks in the 19th Century developed for the health and happiness of urbanites. (Public Health Act 1875)

• Federick Law Olmstead in the 19th C said the benefits of nature ‘operate by unconscious processes to relax and relieve tensions created by the artificial surroundings of urban life’

• Nature… ‘by the variety of its landscapes wins melancholics from their single obsession by taking them away from the cause and the memory of their sufferings’ (Foucault, quoted in Curtin 2009)

Crossley Sanatorium: Image from www.mscch.org/index.php

Evidence

Salutogenic Nature

• Evidence has been accumulating – especially on ‘greenspace’ (generically)

• But still lots of it is at early stages, low quality or designs lacking inferential power

Image: Forestry Commission

Evidence

Ulrich, 1984. Science.

Evidence

Fortescue-Fox & Lloyd, 1938. Lancet.

Evidence

Korpela et al, 2010, Health Promot Int, 25(2), 200-209.

Evidence

Mitchell, 2012. Social Science & Medicine

Nature, health and wellbeing

Proposed mechanisms

• opportunities for physical activity• stress reduction/attention restoration• increased sense of place/place identity,

neighbourhood satisfaction• social interaction

NB: Louv’s ‘Nature Deficit Disorder’ (?)

Key wellbeing activities & staff at ECEHH

1. Monetary valuation of wellbeing - Tim Taylor

2. Development of international wellbeing indicators/index/data - BUPA funded project - Mike Depledge, Mat White (with Fiona Adshead)

3. Wellbeing measures in secondary data sources - Ben Wheeler, Mat White, Clive Sabel

4. High spatial/temporal resolution measurement of individual wellbeing and environmental conditions/perceptions (UoE Open Innovation funded pilot) - Sahran Higgins, Becca Lovell, Ben Wheeler, Mike Depledge

5. Workplace health and wellbeing – Jane Abraham, Julie Pepper, Lora Fleming

6. Wellbeing measures – individual/household/family (Mat White, Ian Alcock)

7. URGENCHE project – assessment of the overall risks and benefits of alternative greenhouse gas emission reduction policies for health and well-being in China and Europe. FP7 project led by Clive Sabel.

8. Mapping wellbeing for small areas across the UK using data from ONS survey (Clive Sabel, Ben Wheeler).

9. Biodiversity, ecosystem services and wellbeing – Mike Depledge, Ben Wheeler, Becca Lovell, Sahran Higgins, Mat White, Tim Taylor

10. Various PhD projects investigating natural environment-wellbeing relationships

Key wellbeing activities & staff at ECEHH

Wheeler, White, Stahl-Timmins & Depledge. 2012. Health & Place.

Blue Space & perceived restorativeness

Showed people 120 images: Built, Green, Blue

Primary Prop. (≈2/3rds)Aquatic Green Built

Secondary Prop. (≈1/3rd)Aquatic Green Built Aquatic Green Built Aquatic Green Built Total

Scene only 8 4 4 4 8 4 4 4 8 48

+ Animal/s 4 2 2 2 4 2 2 2 4 24

+ Person/s 4 2 2 2 4 2 2 2 4 24

+ Object/s 4 2 2 2 4 2 2 2 4 24

Total20 10 10 10 20 10 10 10 20 120

White, M.P., Smith, A., Humphryes, K., Pahl, S., Snelling, D. & Depledge, M. (2010) Blue space: The importance of water for preference, affect and restorativeness ratings of natural and built scenes. Journal of Environmental Psychology.

3/3rds Green

2/3rds Green

2/3rds Blue

3/3rds Blue

5 items from the Perceived

Restorativeness Scale, e.g. “That is a place which is away

from everyday demands and where I would be able to relax and think about what

interests me”

Perceived restorativenessHow good is this place for helping you feel better and think clearer?

Built Green Green/Blue Blue1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Photo environment

Pe

rce

ive

d r

es

tora

tiv

en

es

s

Means with standard errors

White, M.P., Smith, A., Humphryes, K., Pahl, S., Snelling, D. & Depledge, M. (2010) Blue space: The importance of water for preference, affect and restorativeness ratings of natural and built scenes. Journal of Environmental Psychology.

Bluespace & perceived restorativeness

Systematic Review

• 11 trials (6 on young students)• Most showed some improvement in one

or more mental wellbeing measures• But studies highly heterogeneous, and

some significant quality limitations

Measures

• Scales – GHQ, WEMWBS etc• Health outcome measures• QoL measures• Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA)

How happy/relaxed/sad etc. do you feel right now? (mappiness, George McKerron)

• Day Reconstruction Method (DRM, Kahneman)How happy/relaxed/sad etc do you feel during different activities YESTERDAY + DURATION

Daniel Kahneman

-0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

-1

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

Relatively Unpleasurable

Relatively Pleasurable (z-scores)

Relatively Unrewarding

Relatively Rewarding (z-scores)

Fun & rewarding

Rewarding but not fun

Fun but not rewarding

Not fun or rewarding

White & Dolan (2009)

-0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

-1

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

Volunteering

Pray/ Meditate

Time with Children

Cook

Exercise

Enjoying nature Socialise

Read/internet

TV

Rest/relax

Work

Housework

Listen to music

Commute

Self-care

Sex

Shopping

Relatively Unpleasurable

Relatively Pleasurable (z-scores)

Relatively Unrewarding

Relatively Rewarding (z-scores)

Eat

Fun & rewarding

White & Dolan (2009)

Rewarding but not fun

Fun but not rewarding

Not fun or rewarding

"Money isn't everything. Governments have forgotten this... [We should deliver] the best possible quality of life.”

Tony Blair

"We have to remember what makes people happy, as well as what makes stock markets rise. It’s time we focused not just on GDP, but on general wellbeing.”

David Cameron

Dolan, P, Peasgood, T., & White, M.P. (2006). Review of research on the influences on personal well-being and application to policy making. Project Report for DEFRA.

UK Sustainability Index & “Well-being”

UK Sustainability Indicators 2010

www.ecehh.org