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所面临的紧迫问题，以及英国其他地区、欧洲和国际上的林业机构，他们想知道如何积极应对可持续发展和人类健康的全球挑战，同时满足对更多树木覆盖的需求。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希望知道如何以使人类和地球利益最大化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在经历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处环境的长期影响。有证据表明，获得林地等自然环境可以提供健康益处，特别是在心理健康方面，并支持健康的儿童发育。此外，似乎更多处于社会不利地位的人可能会从增加参观和享受城市森林和其他自然环境的机会中获益最多。我们计划就利用林业造福这些人口的实际方法的有效性提供证据。我们的研究考察了现有的城市林业计划，如苏格兰林业（以前称为苏格兰林业委员会）城镇内外森林（WIAT）计划，是否有效地改善了社区福祉和生活质量，将被忽视的城市林地带入了积极的管理中，并与当地人合作，帮助他们利用当地的林地。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十年期间（2005-2015年）任何时候在这些人居住地附近开展的WIAT项目数据联系起来。这将以安全及合乎道德的方式进行，以确保个人或其个人资料不会有被识别的风险。这是一个令人兴奋的机会，因为在苏格兰人口的代表性样本中可以获得高质量的数据；这是我们第一次能够将诸如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森林规划的地点、成本、时间和范围等数据联系起来。结果将表明，例如，新人行道的范围和改善的森林入口，以及将儿童和成人带入森林的活动，是否会对居住在城市森林附近的人们的健康和儿童发展结果产生影响。我们将研究是否只有那些离森林很近的人才能从WIAT项目中受益，在WIAT项目完成后需要多长时间才能出现任何收益，收益是否持续，以及是否根据人们的年龄、性别或社会经济地位而存在收益差异。我们的研究结果不仅将发表在学术期刊上，而且还将以对从森林和土地管理者、环境机构到卫生和儿童发展政策制定者等不同利益攸关方最有帮助的方式发表。我们将与苏格兰林业以及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途径。我们还将向当地社区和更广泛的公众提供我们的研究结果。最终，我们希望城市社区能够从更好的证据中受益，了解政府部门和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.