Well Being Flashcards
A sense of wellbeing is made up of what?
physical health, mental
health, social benefits and ‘building communities’ – this latter being a more
positive take on the more common expression ‘reducing anti-social behaviour”
What are the statics of use of parks during/after covid
Parks have been hugely important during the lockdown, and their use has
increased 160%.
62% of Londoners think protecting and enhancing green spaces should be a higher priority after the lockdown.
London’s greenspace has significant wellbeing benefits and was estimated in 2017 to avoid healthcare costs of £952 million per year.
This comprises £370m per year saved on mental health costs, and £582m physical health savings.
The latter is because exercise combats disease risk.
What are the physical benefits of gardening?
More active gardening involves using a wide range of muscles,
Does not burn off the level of calories that hard physical exercise does, it uses a very wide range of muscles (unlike the often repetitious and limited muscle use of many sporting activities)
contributes to overall physical health in similar ways to yoga or tai-chi, alongside developing balance, physical
cordination, endurance and flexibility –
can reduce the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and other medical conditions.
What are the benefits of gardening for the back?
bending, lifting and carrying strengthens back muscles (within limits)
beneficial for long-term back health.
How does gardening help the stomach and abdominal muscles?
raking, hoeing, digging all help build
these muscles, as does kneeling or squatting to do weeding or planting.
How does gardening help the feet?
the range of postures and continuous changes of activities that gardening involves help with balance and sure-footedness.
How does gardening help the arms?
carrying, potting up, pruning plants with sheers (hedges for example) helps build up arm strength
How does gardening help the heart?
gardening’s varied physical activities helps build heart stamina, and
blood flow, reducing the risk of coronaries and stroke.
How does gardening help your immunity?
exposure to soil inevitably involves exposure to low levels of pathogens, helping build a strong immune system, this is particularly important for children
What are test results of mental health studies?
Van den Berg and Clusters (2011) tested stress-relieving effects of gardening
in a field experiment with 30 allotment gardeners in Amsterdam either
gardening or reading on their allotment for 0.5 hour.
Both, gardening and reading had cortisol decreases during the recovery period, however decreases were significantly stronger following gardening.
Positive mood was fully restored after gardening, but further deteriorated during reading.
According to WebMD what are the benefits of gardening?
Exercise
Boosts self-esteem
Improves attention span
What does exercise actually do for you when gardening?
Releases endorphins which promote a sense of well-being.
Reduces anxiety, depression
migraines
asthma
and other mental issues.
Can help prevent dementia.
How does exercise boost self esteem?
Self-esteem is how much you value and feel positively about yourself.
Helping a plant grow is a big feat. When you see your work
pay off with healthy plants, your sense of pride gets a boost.
How does gardening improve attention span?
Gardening can change how well you pay full attention to a single activity.
gardening can help you learn to concentrate on what’s right in front of you without getting distracted. Studies
show that outdoor activities can reduce similar symptoms of ADHD
What are the benefits of open green space?
Higher levels of
neighbourhood green space were associated with significantly lower levels of symptoms for depression, anxiety and stress.
survey of the health of Wisconsin Beyer et al. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11(3), 3453-3472;
What is it about public green space that helps?
SPACE; freedom to walk and see the urban area from a distance.
Social resource: enables people to meet on neutral territory and allow larger scale gatherings.
Is public green space equally distributed?
NO.
Lower income and
black/minority ethnic households have been hit hardest – black people in
England are four times more likely than white people to have no outdoor space at home.
How does open green space affect crime?
“There is evidence that greening interventions at the
urban level reduces violent crime, specifically gun violence”
However, the study went on to emphasise that poorly designed or poorly maintained green space could have the opposite effect, providing shelter for criminals or antisocial activities.
Why is green space help fight crime and antisocial behaviour?
Social ties. Outdoor gathering spaces provide the opportunity for interaction
among neighbourhood members, which increases familiarity and mutual
investment in well-being.
greened lots may promote social cohesion and, as a result, the interest in
acting for the common good, thereby normalising healthy behaviour in these spaces
Public green space history
Periods of early industrialisation brought enormous numbers of people into rapidly expanding cities.
Conditions in both factories and homes were very poor and social problems abounded; there was also much political agitation.
solutions that emphasised
green space were amongst the most significant answers to keep the men busy and away from pubs and political meetings.
What and why was a solution to urban issues in the past suggested?
Nearly all the new working classes were country people. Enabling the rental of small plots of land to enable people to grow their own was an obvious solution to the almost total absence of other
recreational activities, esp men drinking in pubs and trade union, political meetings.
