Healthy Green Spaces Healthy People
Dawn Griffiths
Senior Adviser – Natural England
Tel: 07900 608051
Content of presentation
• Policy background
• Evidence and examples
• Conclusions
PUBLIC HEALTH WHITE PAPER 2010
Healthy lives; healthy people.
The environment (natural and built) is explicitly
recognised as a determinant of health
The quality of the environment around us also affects
any community. Pollution, air quality, noise, the
availability of green and open spaces” (Sec 1.16, P17).
“ When the immediate environment is unattractive, it is
difficult to make physical activity and contact with
nature part of everyday life” (Sec 1.37, P20).
Local communities will be empowered to “design
communities for active aging and sustainability”. This will
include protecting green spaces, volunteer led walk
programmes, promoting community ownership of
green spaces and improved access to land. (Sec 3, P31).
NEWP outlines specific actions that will help to
improve health, wellbeing and quality of life
•
Local Nature Partnerships and the Health and Wellbeing Boards should
actively seek to engage each other in their work
•
The natural environment, will be a crucial consideration in developing joint
strategic needs assessments and joint health and wellbeing strategies
Reducing health inequalities
Marmot Review 2010: Fair Society, Healthy Lives
“Create and develop healthy and sustainable
places and communities” - one of 6
recommendations
health inequalities arise from social inequalities
(education, employment, standard of living), plus
where people live has an impact.
•
•
People living closer to green space had lower death rates and less heart
disease.
A Lancet study in Glasgow found that amongst lower income groups 1,300 extra
deaths occurred each year in areas where the provision of green space was
poor (University of Glasgow, 2008).
Mitchell R, Popham F. Effect of exposure to natural environment on health inequalities: an
observational population study. Lancet 2008;
New health system since 1 April 2013
Public Health England, created to oversee new ‘Public Health Outcomes
Framework’ to aid local commissioning groups in reducing health inequalities.
The Outcomes Framework states that ‘Public health contributions would be
made locally, led by local authorities’
•
•
•
•
200+ Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) taken over role from PCTs
Health and Wellbeing Boards - fora where leaders work together to improve the health and
wellbeing of their local population and reduce health inequalities. In each top tier and unitary
authority.
H&WB Boards to prepare Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNAs) considering the
needs for the whole community plus wider social, environmental and economic factors that
impact on health and wellbeing.
Meet the needs identified by JSNAs, H&WB Boards will prepare Health and Wellbeing
Strategies.
Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF)
1.16 - Utilisation of greenspace for exercise/health reasons
 Inclusion of this indicator is recognition of the significance of
accessible green space as a wider determinant of public health.
 Provides a new opportunity to embed greenspace and natural
environments within a local authority priority programme through
delivery of advice and evidence
What do we mean by the ‘natural environment’?
How does natural green space contribute to
health and wellbeing?
Increases physical activity:
• provides space for physical activity.
• provides a destination to walk
• provides challenges for hard physical activity.
Improves mental health and wellbeing:
• reduction in stress
• helps concentration
• provides a sense of belonging and self worth
• reduces symptoms of aggression and crime
Provides opportunity for social integration:
• increases social contact
• increases creative play with children
Provides services and systems that are vital for healthy lives and also help
mitigate against the negative health impacts resulting from climate change
Levels of engagement and indirect positive effects
If nature is within close proximity, there are health benefits via any of
the following three levels of engagement:
 simply viewing it through a window
(Ulrich 1984; Pretty et al. 2005)
 being in its presence
(De Vries et al. 2003)
 or actively taking part in green
activities and wilderness trails
(Davis‐Berman & Berman 1989; Hartig et al. 2003;
Pretty et al. 2007).
Life expectancy in the London Borough of Brent
• Male life expectancy decreases
with each tube stop as the train
heads into London
• South Kenton residents have 10
years more life expectancy than
those in Harleston
• The Lancet study showed socioeconomic factors to be a primary
cause, but also highlighted lack of
green space as significant
Access to green space in Bristol
• In Bristol, lack of
access to green
space correlates with
low household
income, low
educational
achievement and
poor health
Monitor of Engagement with the Natural
Environment (MENE)
•
In 2009 Natural England, Defra and the Forestry Commission commissioned
TNS Research International to undertake the Monitor of Engagement with the
Natural Environment (MENE).
•
MENE is a three year face-to-face, in-home omnibus survey undertaking
about 40,000 interviews per year (around 800 respondents every week).
•
It includes comprehensive information on visits to the natural environment
and collects data on the types of places visited, demographic profile of
visitors, motivations, outcomes and activities.
Monitor of Engagement with the Natural
Environment (MENE)
Where do
Where did
people visit
during 10/11? pl
visit?
Countryside 53% or
1.3 bn. visits
Other coastline
4% or 0.11 bn. visits
53%
4%
Seaside resort/ town 7%
or 0.17 bn. visits
7%
37%
Green space in a town or city
0.92 bn. visits
MENE - Levels of physical activity by frequency of visits
Frequent visitors (%) Infrequent visitors (%)
Non-visitors (%)
Number of days
undertake 30 mins+
of physical activity
There is a relationship between
visits to the natural environment
and levels of physical activity.
• Frequent visitor – at least once a week (53% of population)
• Infrequent visitor – twice a month or less often (37% of population)
• Non-participants – not visited in the last 12 months (9% of population)
Who visits green space (in towns and cities) within
two miles of their starting point?
• Those in the bottom 10% IMD were
twice as likely to visit greenspace within
2 miles of their starting point compared
to those in the top 10%
• BME communities were twice as likely
to visit greenspace within 2 miles of
their starting point compared to
respondents from white communities.
• 17% of people who visited greenspace
within two miles of their starting point
consider themselves to be disabled or
to have a longstanding illness.
Access to Nature
Access to Nature was a
scheme run by Natural
England and funded by the
Big Lottery Fund.
It aimed to encourage more
people to enjoy the outdoors
The projects have produced
lots of useful case studies
available on Natural
England's website
Walking for Health
• Led by Macmillan
Cancer Care and the
Ramblers
• Now been running for
over 14 years
• Over 600 led walking
schemes nationally and
thousands of walking
opportunities
• Led by trained
volunteers
www.walkingforhealth.org.uk
Neighbourhoods Green
• Neighbourhoods Green (NG) is a partnership initiative improving
open space for residents of social housing
• The website at http://www.neighbourhoodsgreen.org.uk provides
case studies, self help guides and information on funding and training
• Current projects include food growing, outdoor education, tree
planting, wildflower meadows and the engagement and ownership of
residents to develop, create and in some cases help manage green
space
Conclusions
• There is a strong policy context and
evidence base for the provision of
accessible greenspace
• There is clear evidence that access to
green space benefits health and
reduces health care costs
• Those living in areas of high health
inequality are likely to have the least
access to green space
• The emerging Health and Wellbeing
Strategies can help provide the
framework for addressing this complex
issue
The healing gift of space
“We all need space;
unless we have it,
we cannot reach
that sense of quiet
in which whispers
of better things
come to us gently”
Octavia Hill 1888