Wellbeing Space and Society最新文献

Severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) makes visiting outdoor spaces difficult. This proof-of-concept study tapped into personally meaningful outdoor memories to co-create and deliver personalized nature-based VR experiences with four adults living in upstate South Carolina, U.S. Our study objective was to evaluate participant responses to the co-creation process and VR experience. We identified familiar landscapes with each participant, captured 360-degree videos of these locations, and worked with them to select the videos, audio, and sequences to use. Each participant co-created and then experienced their own unique 5–7 min 360-degree video in a VR headset. Participant responses were measured with questionnaires on psychological well-being, perceived restoration, cybersickness, and presence, along with physiological data on heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, and blood oxygen levels. Our findings generally supported that the co-creation process and personalized, nature-based VR experience was safe for our participants and could support their psychological well-being. More broadly, this study supports additional research with these activities to promote well-being among people living with chronic disease.

Growing evidence suggests that visiting heritage, such as historic buildings, or landscapes, may enhance mental health. However, adults and children from deprived areas are less likely to visit heritage, perhaps partly due to unequal geographical availability. Few studies investigate socio-spatial inequity of heritage access nationally, and there is an absence of research exploring individual-based contact with heritage. We study both and ours is the first to use Global Positioning System (GPS) data to examine the latter. For Scotland we quantify area-level ‘opportunities’ for heritage contact (i.e., data zone-level counts of sites), and SPACES Study children's (n = 688) individual-level heritage ‘encounters’ (i.e., GPS buffer-level counts of sites), by income deprivation. Heritage exposure varied by deprivation at area- (ANOVA p < 0.001) and individual-level (p = 0.003); in poorer areas there were fewer ‘opportunities’ to visit heritage (mean numbers in most deprived: 2.8 (CI:2.2–3.5), and least deprived: 11.7 (CI:10.3–13.1)) and children had fewer ‘encounters’ with heritage (most deprived: 32.6 (CI:25.3–40.2), and least deprived: 58.0 (CI:47.9–69.3)). Inequalities at individual-level were smaller than at area-level; children in poorer areas appeared to compensate for fewer sites near home during their daily movements. Nonetheless, inequalities in exposure did persist, and opportunities to access heritage remained unequal to the detriment of those in poorer areas. Our evidence is policy relevant, highlighting a need for place-based schemes to address geographic inequalities in access. For example, targeted investment in heritage in/near deprived areas; free site entry for those on lower incomes; and educational outreach activities to improve awareness of local heritage.

Objectives: To explore inactive older adults experiences within a group based hiking program held twice weekly for 8 weeks. Methods: As part of a larger study exploring a hiking program among older adults, a purposeful sample of participants (n = 10; age = 66.9+/-8.0), who self-reported not meeting physical activity (PA) guidelines of 150 min per week were recruited. One-on-one, semi-structured interviews were conducted at the end of the hiking program. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded following guidelines for reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Participants shared that, (1) their experience with the hiking program was overwhelmingly positive and satisfying; (2) hiking helped them get in better shape; (3) being outdoors made them feel better, and (4) being with others in the hiking group was important to them. Discussion: Inactive older adults were satisfied with and benefited from a hiking program. Positive benefits may be due to the group and nature-based experience of the program and their benefit on accountability and enjoyment. Given the low rates of PA participation among older adults, hiking programs may be a way of increasing PA uptake in this population.

Neighborhood physical places that bring people together, referred to as social infrastructure, form the foundation of communities. Studies suggest that by facilitating social encounters, social infrastructure can enhance sense of social cohesion and belonging and may also improve subjective wellbeing. Yet the extent to which wellbeing benefits are mediated through increased social cohesion and belonging is less understood. Drawing on data collected in March 2022 from a nationally representative sample of 1000 Australian adults aged over 18 years, we use mediated regression analysis to examine the extent to which the link between social infrastructure and subjective wellbeing is mediated by perceived social cohesion and belonging. Our findings reveal that social cohesion and belonging partially mediate the relationship between proximate social infrastructure and wellbeing. Our findings go beyond previous studies that note the importance of walking or greenspaces for social interaction and cohesion to demonstrate that social and wellbeing benefits can be accrued across a suite of ordinary neighborhood places when the social context is perceived as cohesive. The results highlight the capacity for ordinary places such as shops and cafes to contribute to social cohesion during everyday activities and facilitate subjective wellbeing by satisfying the basic human need to belong.

This qualitative study evaluated a co-designed nature conservation intervention for older adults living in a retirement village. It explored if and how the intervention could support autonomous motivation to engage with nature. Participants were invited to “spot, count and record things in nature” for 6 weeks, tailoring (i.e., personalizing) this nature activity to their motivations, needs and abilities, and using resources provided (e.g., logbook). Following the intervention, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 participants. These interviews highlighted the wide range of barriers to engaging with the natural environment among older adults, even if it is easily accessible. Findings revealed that co-designing an intervention, tailored to different motivations, needs and abilities, providing a sense of purpose and connection, and supporting discovery and learning, can inspire older adults to spend more time engaging with nature.

The prevalence of poor mental health among younger and older generations is rising. Urban greenspaces (UGS) can provide well-being benefits and are used by all ages, so it is important that these spaces provide benefits across the life course. So far, studies tend to focus on one age group and lack focus on properties of these spaces which shape well-being across generations. Our aim was to explore what properties of UGS can shape well-being across age groups and to what extent are UGS for social interactions across age groups. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted online with 20 participants in four age groups: adolescents, young adults, adults, and older adults. Interviewees were asked about visits to UGS, preferences for multi-sensory components, and how spaces shape their well-being. Using thematic analysis, four themes were identified which were common across all age groups: UGS can provide a sense of escape; there are practical needs surrounding access and contact with UGS; being a space to share with other users; and the importance of seasonal multi-sensory components. Whilst findings showed that there are properties of UGS which are valued across multiple ages, differences were also revealed regarding interactions across ages. By researching qualitatively across ages, the complex similarities and differences between ages can be understood. Future research should also explore interactions between age groups as well as the views of non-users of UGS and their reasons for not visiting UGS.

The pandemic disproportionately influenced marginalized communities in North America. However, the social and spatial inequalities impacting marginalized rare genetic disease communities – such as those living with cystic fibrosis – have not been heard in mainstream pandemic narratives. Sensitized by the social determinants of health, this qualitative study explored the experiences of 12 youth with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) during the pandemic. Content analysis revealed four themes. Youth with CF experienced changes across physical spaces, faced pandemic anxiety, and struggled with access to digital and medical spaces. Youth also reflected on being “used to” life-long physical distancing as a result of CF. Our findings show the complexity of environments for youth with CF during the pandemic while demonstrating how Covid-19 shaped the lives of rare disease communities. Our findings also illustrate spatial and social inequities among marginalized, rare genetic disease communities.

Commercial sex and mining have long been interwoven. With the spread of neoliberal capitalism, social relations around the mine site have become increasingly commodified. This ethnographic study examines the experiences of female sex workers in the mining town of Solwezi, Zambia. Women's stories offer insight into the lives of those excluded from the conventional women's economic empowerment narrative that has been widely adopted by the mining industry and what this means for their wellbeing and health. Despite the rhetoric, economic empowerment is not easily attained and women often remain heavily reliant on mine workers given limited and unequal opportunities within the labour market. In Solwezi, women who have been abandoned by a mine-working husband may find that sex work is the one opportunity available to them. Alternatively, women have migrated from across the country to participate in commercial sex work in Solwezi. Men, especially mine workers with twice-monthly pay cheques, have become a sought-after commodity, by both sex workers and wives. This has increased their power in their relationships, entrenches inequality, and increases the potential for abuse in these relationships. Despite these dynamics, sex working women continue to be neglected in Solwezi and by the broader development community. When they are considered, generally attention is directed towards HIV prevention. These interventions fail to consider the complex social, political, and economic context that can affect women's living and working conditions.

Contemporary contingency planning is largely delinked from urban planning. However, the two domains intersect in critical ways. Contingency planning frames conditions for displaced persons in emergency situations but also affects the design of everyday urban spaces. Thus, the spatial output of emergency preparedness can encourage wellbeing and placemaking in both emergency and non-emergency situations. This article explores the built environments of contingency planning in Norwegian cities, paying particular attention to emergency reception.

Furthermore, this article outlines the relationship between the policies of reception in displacement management and the spatial policies of placemaking. A study of Norwegian contingency planning history shows that the former evacuation shelter typology is being replaced by the more loosely defined concept of places of protection, similar to the retrofitted spaces commonly used as asylum centres. Newspaper clippings and document reviews are used to study two emergency reception structures: a Cold War multipurpose mountain hall close to the Norway–Russia border and a transformed 1970s warehouse near Oslo that currently houses the Norwegian national arrival facility for asylum-seekers. Comparing these two cases outlines the interaction between displacement management, contingency planning, and urban planning and contributes to conceptualising what we call contingency urbanism. We suggest that contingency urbanism can be useful in re-spatialising emergency architecture, re-linking contingency and urban planning, and pointing to placemaking opportunities in the duality of everyday life and a state of emergency.

This study investigates the potential influence of life purpose in modifying the impact of education on depressive symptoms, and perception of leisure and social constraints. The research targets adult residents residing in low-income subsidized housing facilities in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Surveys were administered to collect data on life purpose, depressive symptoms, perceived leisure constraints and sociodemographics. Bayesian statistics were employed to estimate the probability of a model encompassing education, life purpose, and their interaction, compared to a model incorporating only common sociodemographics. The findings substantiate the noteworthy protective benefits associated with life purpose. This research holds implications for the development of health interventions specifically tailored to address the unique psychosocial needs of low-income adults residing in subsidized housing, thereby contributing to more effective and targeted public health strategies.