FHEA; PCAP
I focus on evaluating, synthesising and translating evidence of the links between nature and health for policy and practice (see www.beyondgreenspace.net). I am interested in the multiple roles of the natural environment in determining equitable population health; ‘what works’ in environmental health interventions and the delivery of nature-based solutions; and how better understandings of the economic, social and health values of natural environments could inform cross-sectoral decision making and ways of working.
I am a member of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Natural Environments and Health.
Clarifying what works in relation to nature based interventions for health such as green social prescribing, including several randomised control trials.
https://beyondgreenspace.net/2022/05/17/nature-on-prescription-feasibility/
Health and other social considerations and implications of infrastructural nature based solutions.
https://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/4799558023643136
https://beyondgreenspace.net/2023/12/14/new-paper-using-systems-thinking-when-evaluating-nature-based-solutions/
Systems of and implementation of nature based interventions and solutions.
https://beyondgreenspace.net/2021/05/12/evaluating-the-green-social-prescribing-test-and-learn-pilots/
https://beyondgreenspace.net/2021/06/15/therapeutic-nature-project-report/
Implications of exposure and access to natural environments for health and consequences of environmental change. https://beyondgreenspace.net/2023/11/07/rebls-a-new-longitudinal-survey-of-peoples-attitudes-towards-nature/
Decision making in relation to the health and social values of nature.
Evidence synthesis, process evaluation, primary realist evaluation.
As a team we work closely with a variety of different sectors and professions at the intersections of health and nature. We are very keen to continue building those links through collaboration. We undertake commissions and advisory work when we have capacity.
Nature prescribing, BMJ
https://www.bmj.com/content/383/bmj.p2745
National Evaluation of the Preventing and Tackling Mental Ill Health through Green Social Prescribing Project: Appendices to Interim Report – September 2021 to September 2022 https://shura.shu.ac.uk/32019/
GroundsWell: Community-engaged and data-informed systems transformation of Urban Green and Blue Space for population health – a new initiative, Wellcome Open Research https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9971655/
Ambient greenness, access to local green spaces, and subsequent mental health: a 10-year longitudinal dynamic panel study of 2·3 million adults in Wales, Lancet Planetary Health https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(23)00212-7/fulltext
Green-blue space exposure changes and impact on individual-level well-being and mental health: a population-wide dynamic longitudinal panel study with linked survey data, NIHR Public Health Research https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/phr/LQPT9410#/abstract
Visiting nature is associated with lower socioeconomic inequalities in well-being in Wales, Scientific Reports https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-35427-7
Street trees and mental health: developing systems thinking-informed hypotheses using causal loop diagraming, Ecology and Society
https://ecologyandsociety.org/vol28/iss2/art1/
A typology for urban Green Infrastructure to guide multifunctional planning of nature-based solutions, Nature-Based Solutions
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772411522000337
Nature-based biopsychosocial resilience: An integrative theoretical framework for research on nature and health, Environment International https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016041202300507X
A call to action: Improving urban green spaces to reduce health inequalities exacerbated by COVID-19, Preventive Medicine https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743521000098
Spending time in the garden is positively associated with health and wellbeing: Results from a national survey in England, Landscape and Urban Planning https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169204619308163
What approaches to social prescribing work, for whom, and in what circumstances? A realist review, Health and Social Care https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/hsc.12839
Nature, biodiversity and health: an overview of interconnections, Report for the WHO https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/9789289055581
Assessing the value of urban green and blue spaces for health and well-being, Report for the WHO https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/367630
Nature on Prescription Handbook, MRC and NIHR https://beyondgreenspace.net/2021/05/27/nature-on-prescription-handbook-published/
What Works briefings on natural environment and health or educational interventions for Defra, https://beyondgreenspace.net/2021/04/13/what-works-briefings/
Rapid review of evidence for England’s new Green Infrastructure standards, https://beyondgreenspace.net/2020/10/05/rapid-review-green-infrastructure-standards/
Improving access to greenspace: A new review for 2020, Report with PHE https://beyondgreenspace.net/2020/07/29/improving-access-to-greenspace-a-new-review-for-2020/
Making the Most of Green Space for People’s Health web resources for local authorities https://beyondgreenspace.net/making-the-most/