Using secondary data to examine whether a programme of physical and social interventions in urban forests enhances community health and wellbeing

这项研究解决了苏格兰林业以及英国其他地区、欧洲和国际上的林业机构面临的紧迫问题，他们想知道如何在满足对更多树木覆盖的需求的同时，积极应对全球对可持续发展和人类健康的挑战。此外，公共卫生政策制定者和规划者、土地管理者、空间规划者和土地开发机构以及第三部门组织都想知道如何以最大限度地造福人类和地球的方式投资稀缺资源。因此，我们的重点是城市林业，以及如何提供更好的证据，证明它可以为人类福祉、儿童发展和健康公平做出贡献。我们越来越多的城市人口正经历着精神疾病和非传染性疾病水平的上升；此外，人们还担心城市生活对儿童所经历的各种环境的长期影响。有证据表明，进入林地等自然环境可以提供健康益处，特别是在精神健康方面，并支持儿童健康发展。此外，似乎更多的社会弱势群体可能会从更多参观和享受城市森林和其他自然环境的机会中获益最多。我们计划提供证据，证明可利用林业造福这些人口的实际方法的有效性。我们的研究考察了现有的城市林业计划，如苏格兰林业(前身为苏格兰林业委员会)城镇及其周围的森林(WIAT)计划，是否有效地通过将贫困城市社区附近被忽视的城市林地纳入积极管理并与当地人合作帮助他们使用当地林地来改善社区福祉和生活质量。我们正在利用新的机会，将大量人口的现有人口、健康和儿童发展数据与在十年(2005-2015)期间(2005-2015年)这些人居住的任何时间点附近开展的WIAT项目的数据联系起来。这将以安全和合乎道德的方式进行，这样就不会有个人或他们的个人数据被识别的风险。这是一个令人兴奋的机会，因为苏格兰具有代表性的人口样本拥有高质量的数据；我们第一次可以将抗抑郁药处方数据或儿童粗大和精细运动技能发展等信息与国家城市林业计划的地点、成本、时间和范围的数据联系起来。结果将表明，例如，新的人行道和改善的森林入口的范围，以及将儿童和成人带入森林的活动，是否会对生活在城市森林附近的人的健康和儿童发展结果产生影响。我们将研究WIAT带来的好处是否只有那些住在离森林很近的人才能体验到，WIAT项目完成后多久才会出现任何好处，好处是否持续，以及不同年龄、性别或社会经济状况的人在好处上是否存在差异。我们的研究结果不仅将发表在学术期刊上，还将以对不同利益相关者最有帮助的方式发布，从森林和土地管理人员到环境机构，再到卫生和儿童发展政策制定者。我们将与苏格兰林业和英国和欧洲的其他公共机构密切合作，寻找实现这一目标的最佳方法。我们还将让当地社区和更广泛的公众了解我们的调查结果。最终，我们希望城市社区将受益于更好的证据，证明政府部门以及公共和私人机构如何支持人们进入城市森林，以支持他们及其子女的福祉和生活质量。

This research addresses urgent questions faced by Scottish Forestry, alongside forestry agencies across the rest of the UK, Europe and internationally, who want to know how they can respond positively to global challenges for sustainability and human health while satisfying demands for more tree cover. In addition, public health policy-makers and planners, land managers, spatial planners and land development agencies and third sector organisations want to know how to invest scarce resources in ways that maximise benefits for people as well as planet. So our focus is on urban forestry and how to provide better evidence of the contributions it can make to human wellbeing, child development and health equity. Our increasingly urban population is experiencing rising levels of mental illness and non-communicable disease; in addition, there is concern about the long-term effects of urban living on the kinds of environments children experience. There is evidence that access to natural environments such as woodlands can offer health benefits, especially in relation to mental wellbeing, and support healthy child development. In addition, it appears that more socially disadvantaged people may gain most from improved opportunities to visit and enjoy urban forests and other natural environments. We plan to provide evidence on the effectiveness of practical ways in which forestry can be used to benefit such populations. Our study examines whether existing programmes for urban forestry, such as Scottish Forestry's (formerly known as Forestry Commission Scotland) Woods In and Around Towns (WIAT) programme, are effective in their aims of improving community wellbeing and quality of life by bringing neglected urban woodland near deprived urban communities into active management and working with local people to help them use their local woodland. We are taking advantage of new opportunities to link existing population, health and child development data for a large number of people, together with data on WIAT projects that have been undertaken near where these people live at any point in a ten year period (2005-2015). This will be done in a secure and ethically approved manner so that there is no risk of individuals or their personal data being identifiable. It is an exciting opportunity because of the high quality data available across a representative sample of Scotland's population; for the first time we can link information such as prescriptions data for anti-depressants, or child gross and fine motor skills development, with data on the location, cost, timing and extent of a national urban forestry programme. The results will indicate whether, for example, the extent of new footpaths and improved forest entrances, alongside activities to bring children and adults into the forest, makes a difference to health and child development outcomes for people living near the urban forest. We'll look at whether benefits from WIAT are experienced only by those living very close to the forest, how long it takes for any benefits to appear after a WIAT project is completed, whether benefits are sustained and whether there are differences in benefit according to people's age, gender, or socio-economic status.Our findings will be published not only in academic journals but also in ways that are most helpful for different stakeholders, from forest and land managers and environmental agencies to health and child development policymakers. We will be working closely with Scottish Forestry and other public agencies across the UK and Europe to find the best ways of doing this. We'll also make our findings accessible to local communities and the wider public. Ultimately, we hope that urban communities will benefit from better evidence as to how government departments and public and private agencies can support people's access to urban forests to support their, and their children's, wellbeing and quality of life.