Addressing psychosocial issues caused by the COVID-19 lockdown: Can urban greeneries help?

Rajoo, Keeren Sundara; Karam, Daljit Singh; Abdu, Arifin; Rosli, Zamri; Gerusu, Geoffery James

doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127340

Cited by 28 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(44 reference statements)

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“…These results suggest that people intentionally go outdoors and visit greenspaces for restorative purposes. Indeed, there are now insights explicitly for the pandemic suggesting that nature exercise and nature therapy in urban greenspaces can help reduce stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms (Sundara Rajoo et al, 2021). Furthermore, there is evidence that even brief outdoor experiences in green and blue spaces or having green window views during the strictest lockdown periods provide mental health benefits (Pouso et al, 2021; Soga, Evans, Tsuchiya, et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Informing the design of urban green and blue spaces through an understanding of Europeans' usage and preferences

et al. 2022

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1. In light of global climate change and the biodiversity crisis, making cities more resilient through an adjusted design of urban green and blue spaces is crucial.Nature-based solutions help address these challenges while providing opportunities for nature experiences, and providing cultural ecosystem services that support public health. The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated stressors highlighted the interrelated socio-ecological services provided by nature-based solutions like urban green and blue spaces.2. This pan-European study therefore aimed to enhance the socio-ecological understanding of green and blue spaces to support their design and management. Using an online survey, green and blue space preferences, usage, and pandemic-related changes in greenspace visit and outdoor recreation frequencies were examined.3. Greenspace visit and outdoor recreation frequencies were associated with respondents' (N = 584 from 15 countries) geographical location, dominant type of neighbourhood greenspace and greenspace availability during the pandemic, but not greenspace perceptions or sociodemographic background. 4. Greenspace visit and outdoor recreation frequencies were generally high; however, Southern Europeans reported lower greenspace visit and outdoor recreation frequencies both before and during the pandemic than Northern Europeans. Many Southern Europeans also reported having few neighbourhood greenspaces and low greenspace availability during the pandemic. 5. The most common outdoor recreational activity among respondents before the pandemic was walking or running with the most frequently stated purpose of time spent outdoors being restorative in nature (i.e. relaxing or calming down).Most Europeans had positive perceptions of green and blue spaces with preferences for structurally diverse and natural or unmanaged green elements.6. This highlights the importance of accessible green and blue spaces both in everyday life and during times of crisis. Stakeholders, their preferences, and regional and cultural differences should be included in the co-design of urban green and blue spaces to maximize their potential for both people and nature.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Informing the design of urban green and blue spaces through an understanding of Europeans' usage and preferences

et al. 2022

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“…With this approach, findings that GI use are associated with better health can mean that the GI use has improved health, but these results could also represent a bias whereby those with poorer mental and physical health were less interested in using GI as a result of their health status. Three of the studies were able to more directly measure the impact of GI use by measuring individual outcomes before and after GI use [ 37 , 41 , 47 ], though they lacked controls to represent that effect of not using GI. While the high level of agreement across studies offers support for their conclusions on the benefits of GI use, studies with a random assignment of participants to control and use categories would be even stronger.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parks and the Pandemic: A Scoping Review of Research on Green Infrastructure Use and Health Outcomes during COVID-19

Heckert

Bristowe

2021

IJERPH

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Green infrastructure (GI) has long been known to impact human health, and many academics have used past research to argue for the potential importance of GI as a mechanism for maintaining or improving health within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This scoping review addresses the question: What evidence, if any, have researchers found of a relationship between green infrastructure use and health during the COVID-19 pandemic? Specifically, evaluating the (a) association of GI use with COVID-19 disease outcomes and (b) association of GI use with other health outcomes as impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty-two studies were identified that measured GI use and studied it in relation to health outcomes during the pandemic. The studies were reviewed for the specific measures and types of GI use, level of analysis, specific types of health outcomes, and the conclusions reached with regard to GI use and health. Studies exploring COVID-19-specific health outcomes showed mixed results, while non-COVID health outcomes were more consistently improved through GI use, particularly with regard to improved mental health. While the evidence strongly suggests that GI use has played a protective role in non-COVID-19 physical and mental health during the pandemic, questions remain with regard to possible impacts on COVID transmission and mortality.

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“…A cross-sectional study reported changes in nature sound during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic time (Garrido-Cumbrera et al, 2021) as a possible nature contact indicator. Other nature contact indicators including the quality of greenspace (Huerta & Utomo, 2021), nature experience activities (Jackson et al, 2021a), nature exercise and nature therapy (Sundara Keeren et al, 2021), and perceived nature deprivation (Tomasso et al, 2021) were reported in the literature.…”

Section: Contact With Naturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fifteen studies (25%), including 13 cross-sectional study designs (Asim et al, 2021;Basu et al, 2021;Bourion-Bédès et al, 2021a;Bu et al, 2021;Corley et al, 2021;Dzhambov et al, 2021;Heo et al, 2021;LÃµhmus et al, 2021;Millán-Jiménez et al, 2021;Pouso et al, 2021;Sansal et al, 2021;Spano et al, 2021;Sundara Keeren et al, 2021), one cohort (Wortzel et al, 2021) and one longitudinal study design (Young et al, 2021) reported an association between the nature exposure and level of anxiety (Table 1). Of the total, five studies used the GAD-7 scale (Spitzer et al, 2006), three studies used GAD-2 (Kroenke et al, 2007), three used DASS-21 (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995), one study used SCL-90 scale (Derogatis & Savitz, 1999), and the remaining three studies did not use any standard scale for assessing anxiety.…”

Section: Anxietymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, two studies found no direct access to a domestic private garden was associated with higher anxiety (Basu et al, 2021;Bourion-Bédès et al, 2021). Multiple studies reported a positive association between nature contact such as time spent in outdoor nature (e.g., garden) (Basu et al, 2021;Bu et al, 2021;Young et al, 2021), perceived neighborhood greenery (Dzhambov et al, 2021), and participating nature exercise & therapy program (Sundara Keeren et al, 2021) with reduced anxiety score. On the other hand, two studies reported an inverse correlation between outdoor nature and anxiety (Sansal et al, 2021;Young et al, 2021).…”

Section: Anxietymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nature exposure and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Navigation Guide systematic review with meta-analysis

Patwary¹,

Bardhan²,

Disha³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Previous reviews concluded that nature contact was an important coping strategy against poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the quality of evidence in these reviews was not sufficiently documented in terms of the risk of bias in reviewed studies. We attempted to fill this gap with a Navigation Guide systematic review and meta-analyses on the associations between nature exposure and mental health during the pandemic. Searches in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL, and PsycInfo retrieved relevant articles published between January 1, 2020, and April 30, 2022. Included studies reported observational findings from human participants with indoor or outdoor nature exposure and measures of mental health. We used the Navigation Guide methodology to assess the risk of bias and quality of evidence across the body of evidence for each mental health outcome. A total of 4,464 articles were initially identified. After the screening, 59 were ultimately included. Studies reported diverse variables of nature availability, green space visit frequency, green space accessibility, and green space type (e.g., indoor vs. outdoor) with 12 mental health outcomes. Meta-analyses found access to gardens was associated with lower odds of depression (OR=0.71, 95% CI=0.61-0.82, I2=0%, n=3) and anxiety (OR=0.73, 95% CI=0.63-0.84, I2=0%, n=2). Higher frequency of visits to greenspace during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with improved mental well-being (OR=0.10, 95% CI=0.07-0.14, I2=0%, n=2) and general mental health (OR=0.11, 95% CI=0.03-0.38, I2=82%, n=2). The quality of evidence was “very low” for all outcomes, and high levels of bias and between-study heterogeneity were observed in the studies of nature exposure and mental health (41% of studies had high, 24% probably high, and 35% had a low risk of bias). Nonetheless, given trends observed in the results, nature-based infrastructure that emphasizes exposure to nearby nature may have promoted psychological resilience during this public health crisis.

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Addressing psychosocial issues caused by the COVID-19 lockdown: Can urban greeneries help?

Cited by 28 publications

References 27 publications

Informing the design of urban green and blue spaces through an understanding of Europeans' usage and preferences

Informing the design of urban green and blue spaces through an understanding of Europeans' usage and preferences

Parks and the Pandemic: A Scoping Review of Research on Green Infrastructure Use and Health Outcomes during COVID-19

Nature exposure and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A Navigation Guide systematic review with meta-analysis

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