Wellbeing Space and Society最新文献

In this study, the most recent American Time Use Surveys containing reported activity-based emotions and sensations information before (10,378 respondents in 2013) and during (6,902 respondents in 2021) the COVID-19 pandemic are used to assess if time use related individuals’ subjective wellbeing (SWB) decreased in the pandemic. Given that the coronavirus has been shown to strongly influence activity decisions and social interactions, sequence analysis is applied to find daily time allocation patterns and changes in daily time allocation. Then, those derived daily patterns and other activity-travel factors, as well as social and demographic, temporal, spatial, and other contextual characteristics are added as explanatory variables in regression models of SWB measures. This provides a holistic framework of exploring the direct and indirect effects (via activity-travel schedules) of the recent pandemic on SWB while controlling for contexts such as the life assessments, daily schedule of activities, and living environment. The results show that respondents in the COVID year reported a new time allocation pattern that has a substantial amount of time at home, and they experienced more negative emotions. Three relatively happier daily patterns in 2021 contained substantial amounts of outdoor and indoor activities. In addition, no significant correlation was observed between metropolitan areas and individuals’ SWB in 2021. However, comparisons among states show Texas and Florida residents experienced more positive wellbeing presumably due to fewer COVID-related restrictions.

Smaller cities are seeking to attract and retain migrants (e.g. immigrants, refugees, and temporary foreign workers) for population and economic growth yet may lack the physical and social infrastructure to support settlement and integration. More empirical research is needed to reveal how migrants navigate and experience smaller cities on a daily basis, and to what extent these places are conducive to retaining and supporting the wellbeing (e.g., quality of life and sense of belonging) of migrants. This study utilizes the concept of ‘Third Places’ to gain a more detailed and nuanced understanding of the wellbeing of migrants in smaller cities. Interviews with migrants living in smaller cities across Canada were conducted. The findings reveal that third places play an essential role in shaping migrants’ lived experiences in smaller cities and have an impact on their wellbeing when considering the opportunity for social interaction, and accessibility to ethnocultural amenities (e.g. food and retail), social services, and nature. We propose the imperative of investigating and improving third places as social infrastructure may benefit local and migrant populations in smaller cities and help foster community cohesion.

Shopping centres function as meeting places, and people are using them for various non-shopping purposes. Knowledge about different social spaces, and how they are used and perceived, is important for understanding health and wellbeing in the community and for developing health promoting societies. This scoping review provides an overview of existing research examining people's positive experiences and motivations for visiting shopping centres when shopping is not the main purpose. The results showed that people are motivated by the variety of available activities found in shopping centres and that they valued specific site features of the shopping centres. People reported a range of positive experiences when visiting shopping centres including social interactions, opportunities to escape their everyday life, and experiences of place attachment and social cohesion. This shows that, non-shopping use of shopping centres seems to be important for people's wellbeing and might facilitate health promotion and social sustainability in local communities.

Refugees experience shrinking social, economic, political, and physical spaces at astonishing rates. However, these shrinking spaces are challenging to trace simultaneously and are rarely considered in policymaking or analysis. Using the Rohingya case study, this paper implores policy analysis to include these spaces, conceptually categorizing them into physical, social, and psychological spaces. Here we chronologize the plight of Rohingya refugees and identify how their spaces have changed over time. Our findings reveal four primary causal relationships linked to Rohingya refugees' fluctuating spaces, including: (I) Bangladesh's policy framework has kept the Rohingya largely isolated, yet their public-private partnerships have expanded their space; (ii) Bangladesh has a robust social policy framework, which has contributed to expanding refugees' spaces; (iii) Myanmar's foreign policy framework contributed to justifying war crimes, severely restricting Rohingya's space, and (iv) The lack of a social policy framework in Myanmar lead to a severe lack of protection mechanisms for the Rohingya.

Informative data for public health reform against impacts of unsustainable environmental degradation is fragmented across disciplines, while discreet and spatial evidence is particularly limited for marine and coastal ecosystems. For poor, marginal communities experiencing limitations in health sector interventions, such knowledge could be vital. We investigated mangrove-health relationships in Ghana to inform identification and design of most suitable health-supporting ecosystem interventions in such societies.

Academic, health, media, and conservation key informants were interviewed alongside mangrove residents, about influences of human-mangrove interactions on health, and consequences of ecosystem and health sector interventions. Reports show that mangroves diversely supply vital health-impacting ecosystem services, support services for fisheries being the strongest health link. Efficacies and constituents of mangrove-sourced medicines remain unverified, and while reliance on these has declined over time, some minimal indigenous knowledge yet survives. Little knowledge about pollution remediation services of mangroves emerged, with disease vector and pathogen regulation perceived as health disservices. These findings elucidate and reaffirm aspects of the neglected but crucial mangrove-health nexus, for which further exploration constitutes a compelling nature-based opportunity to enhance wellbeing in marginal societies.

Mangrove ecosystem interventions maximise economic benefits that expand access to wider health improvement options, but social and rural-urban public health success disparities persist. Customization of conservation strategies can elicit preferred health impacts, offset shortfalls in non-uniform implementation of health sector interventions and guarantee more equitable and sustainable cross-sector outcomes.

Governments, civic society, businesses, and citizens all strive to make cities more livable. However, evidence about what aspects of cities actually contribute to the subjective well-being of their residents is incomplete. This paper examines the links between life satisfaction and indicators of the “quality” of U.S. metropolitan areas such as leisure/cultural opportunities, crime, climate, transportation, racial/ethnic diversity, incomes, cost of living, income inequality, the environment, healthcare, population growth, and political affiliation and polarization. Using mixed-effects regression and controlling for individual demographics, data on 9,498 respondents in 161 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) suggest that MSA characteristics have little relationship with life satisfaction. The only consistently significant characteristics are the natural log of median MSA per capita income, which is negatively associated with life satisfaction, and climate quality, which is positively associated with it. The association between the percentage of the population voting Republican and life satisfaction is negative but only borderline significant. Further, principal components analysis shows that MSAs with characteristics similar to California's Central Valley or the Texas/Mexico border are actually associated with higher life satisfaction. The finding that subjective well-being tends to be higher in places with better climates is well-supported by prior literature; past research also helps explain why poorer places may be happier, since people tend to be happier when their income compares favorably to their peer group's.

The aim of this analysis is to assess the potential ways that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Canadian carer-employees (CEs) and identify the needs CEs feel is required for them to continue providing care. We assess the similarities and differences in the stresses CEs faced during COVID-19 globally across countries in the G7, Australia, Spain, Brazil, Taiwan, India, and China. We aim to compare Canada against global trends with respect to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the supports in place for CEs. The study utilized 2020 Carer Well-Being Index at the country level. Descriptive data on Canadian CEs is first reviewed, followed by comparisons, by country, on responses relating to: (a) time spent caring; (b) sources of support; (c) impact on paid work and career, and; (d) emotional/mental, financial, and physical health. The relationship between government support and emotional/mental health is also explored. When compared to pre-pandemic times, CEs in Canada on average spent more time caregiving, with 34% reporting more difficulty balancing their paid job and caring responsibilities. Seventy-one percent of CEs feel their mental health has deteriorated. Thirty-four percent of Canadian CEs received support from the government, and only 30% received support from their employers. Globally, there was a similar trend, with CEs experiencing deteriorating mental health, work impacts, and unmet needs during the pandemic. Comparing the well-being of Canadian CEs with other countries provides an opportunity to evaluate areas where Canadian policies and programs have been effective, as well as areas needing improvement.

The health and wellbeing benefits of engagement with the natural environment are well documented. Nature-based interventions (NBIs) can widen access, but little is known about how they affect independent use and perception of greenspace. This mixed methods study examines the longer-term influence of one NBI on woodland visits. 120 adults took part in a longitudinal questionnaire survey, and 20 participated in focus groups. An increase in independent woodland visits was found to continue to rise beyond the programme endpoint suggesting that NBIs can act as a turning point for engagement with nature, breaking down psychological, emotional and socio-cultural barriers.