mentalhealth Archives | NeuroLandscape

ASEAN Workshop on Biodiversity and its Linkages to Human Health

Posted on 27 September 20211 November 2021 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

27 September 2021 at 2:30 PM Singapore

The connections between biodiversity, mental health and physical inactivity are particularly relevant in the context of shifting global burden of diseases in which non-communicable diseases are among the most rapidly rising challenge to global public health. Contact with nature may provide positive mental health benefits, as well as promote physical activity and contribute to overall well-being.

The ASEAN Workshop on Biodiversity and its Links to Human Health in an Urban Context and Capacity Building on Therapeutic Horticulture as an Example of the Links (referred to subsequently as the ASEAN Workshop) is one of the follow-up activities to the above 2018 regional workshop. The European Union, through the Biodiversity Conservation and Management of Protected Areas in ASEAN (BCAMP), is providing funding support to the ASEAN Workshop.

Due to the COVID-19, the ASEAN Workshop had to be postponed and implementation modalities divided into two parts:
(i) introductory webinar (as per current invitation and information note); and
(ii) in-person workshop (tentatively to be conducted in 2022, contingent on prevailing
COVID-19 situation)

Expected Outputs of the Introductory Webinar

1. Enable participants to become supporters and active advocates of green spaces and
therapeutic horticulture approaches in their respective cities in the ASEAN Region.
2. Generate ideas and recommendations on the promotion of green spaces and
therapeutic horticulture in the ASEAN Region.

2:30-2:40pm - Entry of participants, House rules ACB

2:40-2:45pm Opening remarks , Ms. Wendy Yap - Director/ International Biodiversity Conservation, NParks

Session 1: Role of Green Spaces on Health and Wellbeing
2.45-3.25pm

"Landscapes for mental wellbeing" - Dr. Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo - President and Co-founder of NeuroLandscape
"Case study: Prescribing physical activity in parks in Singapore for improved health and wellbeing" - Dr. Nicholas Alexander Petrunoff - Assistant Professor, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore
Question and Answer - Moderator: Mr. Elpidio Peria, - Technical Consultant, ACB

Session 2: Benefits of Therapeutic Horticulture, a Nature-based Programme
3.35-4.25pm

"Contextualising therapeutic horticulture for the tropics" - Ms. Tham Siang Yu Permaculture Designer
"Case study 1: Design and programming of therapeutic horticulture in a tropical nursing home" - Mr. Tham Xin Kai Design Director of Hortian Consultancy and Co-founder of
Hortherapeutics
" Case study 2: A research study on therapeutic horticulture on older adults in Singapore" - Ms. Angelia Sia Deputy Director of Research at the Centre for Urban Greenery and
Ecology, NParks
Question and Answer Moderator: Mr. Elpidio Peria, Technical Consultant, ACB

4:35 – 4.45 Synthesis and Closing - Ms. Clarissa C. Arida, Director, Programme Development and Implementation Unit, ACB

iHealthtech, National University of Singapore and National Parks Board

EKLIPSE project outcomes: Systematic Review, Podcast, WHO Booklet

Posted on 1 August 20211 November 2021 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

For several years, papers have been published about the positive impact of greenness on health, including some synthesis and systematic reviews. Yet, none of them has so far addressed the question of the type of habitats and components of such habitats that have a significant (and preferably positive) effect on mental health and psychological well-being. This is important in order to provide recommendations to designers and managers of green and blue spaces in and around cities.

The aim of this request was to provide recommendations regarding the design, management, and creation of natural spaces in urban or suburban areas in order to promote the mental health of urban inhabitants.

Final outputs of this work can be found here and here, and they include:

Document of Work: DoW-Mental Health-Blue&Green spaces
Methods protocol: Protocol-Mental Health-Blue&Green spaces
Final Report Green spaces and Mental Health: Report-Mental Health-Green spaces
Final Report Blue spaces and Mental Health: Report-Mental Health-Blue spaces
Appendix Report Green spaces and Mental Health: Appendix-Mental Health-Green spaces
Appendix Report Blue spaces and Mental Health: Appendix-Mental Health-Blue spaces
World Health Organization (WHO) booklet

@Eklipse_europe has also launched a podcast about our Expert Working Group work results and more!

The podcast can be accessed here.

EKLIPSE Expert meeting, London

Posted on 30 June 20181 July 2018 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

This is an interview with three members of EKLIPSE project talking about the latest Expert Group meeting in London which brought us closer to the final output of a project related to answering the question on which types and components of urban green and blue spaces have significant influence on human mental health and well-being.

Green Exercise Partnership, NHS Scotland

Posted on 17 March 201817 March 2018 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

Scotland gets the importance of green space for health.

Their National Health Service has teamed up with the Forestry Commission Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage Heritage to create the NHS Greenspace Demonstration Project to ensure the inclusion of green space at health facilities around the country. They've even gone a step further with the Green Exercise Partnership to promote the importance of outdoor activity for mental and physical health. Here are some interesting takeaways from their latest promotional video:

For every pound that we spend on green space, we're actually realizing over four pounds of social and economic benefits from the wider range of sustainability gains. —Susan Grant, NHS Scotland

There’s now compelling evidence that green exercise improves not only your physical health, but also emotional and mental health as well. —Dr Gregor Smith, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Scotland

Source: http://www.paha.org.uk/Feature/nhs-greenspace

WHO calls for action to make cities greener

Posted on 10 January 201816 January 2018 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

For many years, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has made various moves to emphasize and promote mental health as one of the major issues of the developed world. Already in 2005, it stated that Europe’s biggest problem today is the effects of mental disorders of the European population. A quarter of the population suffers from mental issues at some point in their lives, including psychoses, depression, anxiety and eating disorders.

“Of the 870 million people living in the European Region, at any one time about 100 million people are estimated to suffer from anxiety and depression, 4 million from schizophrenia, 4 million from bipolar affective disorder, and 4 million from panic disorders”. While the greatest cause of the burden of disease on the European Region is cardiovascular disease, the second is neuropsychiatric disease, closely followed by depression, which is mainly caused by mental disorders (WHO, 2005).

Mental health disorders lead to many negative effects: alcohol abuse, depression and, in most tragic cases, suicides. It is sad to discover that nine of the ten countries in the world with the biggest rate of suicides are located in Europe. On the other hand, globally, in high-income countries, suicides are the second leading cause of death in the age group 15-29, just after road traffic accidents (WHO, 2014). The focus on the issues of mental health in Europe and around the world means that researchers and policy makers are ever more involved in initiatives, utilizing wide range of so called soft tools that could alleviate the scale of the problem. In a recent call for action (WHO 2017), the WHO emphasised again this need for a change in urban health initiatives with a strong focus on the creation and promotion of green spaces.

Among the multiple benefits of more green spaces in urban settings, we find improvement in air and water quality, as well as lessening of noise pollution and other environmental risks associated with urban living. In addition, they support and facilitate health and well-being by enabling stress alleviation and relaxation, physical activity, improved social interaction and community cohesiveness. Health benefits include improved levels of mental health, physical fitness and cognitive and immune function, as well as lower mortality rates in general (WHO 2017).

Calling upon expert advice, the WHO put forward precise recommendations for all stakeholders regarding creation and maintenance of green urban spaces. Firstly, contact with green spaces should be provided equally to all urban community members. As a rule of thumb, one should be able to access a public green space within 300m from their place of residence. Additionally, the quality of such spaces is not coincidental, this is why NeuroLandscape is very much involved in the public authorities’ agenda by focusing on the quality and health-promoting potential of green urban areas. And finally, WHO stresses it is important to look at this new paradigm of treating urbanisation, health and the importance of natural, green and blue spaces as a long-term project. This last aspect is also what makes NeuroLandscape’s work so exciting, as it is clear that the future not only belongs to cities, but green and healthy cities at that. We are honoured to be part of this movement and look forward to contributing to this action in years to come.