Developing a Nature and Health Hub for Cornwall

为康沃尔郡开发自然与健康中心

• 批准号: NE/P01237X/1
• 负责人: Dan Bloomfield
• 金额: $ 3.29万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2016 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FP01237X%2F1
• 关键词: Developing; Nature; Health; Hub; Cornwall

There is increasing evidence that regularly being active in natural outdoor spaces is good for one's general health and wellbeing. Doctors and other health professionals are increasingly likely to suggest a social, non-clinical activity for those patients who may be suffering from depression, anxiety, isolation or general poor health, as much as they might prescribe a traditional treatment. At the same time, from the environmental science side of things rather than the health side, researchers are increasingly interested in demonstrating how natural places provide all sorts of benefits to people that can otherwise be missed, such as making a contribution to health.At the University of Exeter, academics have been approaching the topic from both of these directions, and have been working with doctors, land owners and patients to set up projects that encourage people to get out into nature more. The 'Dose of Nature' programme has been running for a few years. Sometimes the groups that have been supported concentrate on walking in nature. Sometimes they involve more hands on activities. A lot of this work has been based in Cornwall. In the last few years new partnerships have been created in the county around the economy, the environment, and health and wellbeing. To a greater or lesser degree, Cornwall Council is involved in each of these partnerships. The Council is also faced with new challenges and opportunities, for example with the need to produce a plan for the closer alignment of health and social care budgets and workloads, and the contents of the 'Devolution Deal' that it has signed with the Government. This proposal is about making the most of that opportunity. The university researchers and the Council have agreed to spend six months looking in detail at a new way of working. This would bring together the sorts of activities, based outdoors, to which a doctor might refer a patient, alongside all the public health promotion work that already goes on. Other things can be added into that mix; the walking groups that happen in Cornwall's Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and with the National Trust, for example. Also the initiatives to reduce inactivity that the Cornwall Sports Partnership are taking forwards. All of this could be brought together under one structure, one coordinated service.The proposal is therefore to buy six months of a researcher's time to look at this in detail. That researcher would have to do a number of things: look at what the science says and summarise the evidence; ensure that all the potential partners get on board and have their objectives met; talk to people on the ground in the six target zones in Cornwall that have been identified as the most in need; and write a business plan that is deliverable and fundable. What's new about this is the idea of applying a 'stepped change' approach, so that general advice and tips on how to get out into nature are tied to actual providers, walking groups, outdoor therapists and the like. A coordinated effort, made through a single 'Nature and Health Hub', should have a greater impact on the health and wellbeing of Cornish residents, as well as provide an effective way for scientific findings to be used. We want to see how such a Hub can tie in with initiatives in the workplace too, because employment and employability are key factors in wellbeing.Bringing together all these different organisations and partnerships is quite possible - many have already signed up in principle to trying - but it is a task that requires a detailed plan. That plan needs to consider in detail what to do, where, with how many people, as well as how to apply the science and monitor progress. Writing that plan is the aim of this proposal.

越来越多的证据表明，经常在自然的户外空间活动对一个人的整体健康和福祉有好处。医生和其他卫生专业人员越来越有可能建议那些可能患有抑郁症，焦虑症，孤立或一般健康状况不佳的患者进行社交，非临床活动，就像他们可能会开传统治疗一样。与此同时，从环境科学的角度而不是从健康的角度来看，研究人员越来越有兴趣证明自然环境如何为人们提供各种各样的好处，否则可能会被忽视，比如对健康做出贡献。在埃克塞特大学，学者们一直在从这两个方向研究这个话题，并一直在与医生合作，土地所有者和病人建立项目，鼓励人们更多地走进大自然。"大自然的剂量"方案已经实施了几年。有时，得到支持的团体专注于在大自然中行走。有时候，他们会参与更多的活动。很多工作都是在康沃尔进行的。在过去的几年里，该县围绕经济、环境、健康和福祉建立了新的伙伴关系。康沃尔理事会或多或少地参与了这些伙伴关系中的每一个。理事会还面临着新的挑战和机遇，例如，需要制定一项计划，使卫生和社会保健预算与工作量以及与政府签署的"权力下放协议"的内容更加协调一致。这项提案是为了充分利用这一机会。大学的研究人员和理事会已经同意花六个月的时间详细研究一种新的工作方式。这将把医生可能会推荐病人参加的各种户外活动与所有已经在进行的公共健康促进工作结合起来。其他事情也可以加入其中;例如，在康沃尔的杰出自然美景区和国家信托基金会举办的步行团体。此外，康沃尔体育伙伴关系正在采取措施，以减少不活动。所有这一切都可以在一个结构下，一个协调的服务，因此，建议是购买六个月的研究人员的时间来详细研究这一点。这位研究人员必须做很多事情：研究科学所说的并总结证据;确保所有潜在的合作伙伴都参与进来并实现他们的目标;与康沃尔郡六个被确定为最需要的目标地区的人们交谈;并编写一份可交付和可资助的商业计划。这方面的创新之处在于应用“逐步改变”方法的想法，因此关于如何进入大自然的一般建议和提示与实际提供者、步行团体、户外治疗师等联系在一起。通过一个单一的"自然与健康中心"进行的协调努力，应该对康沃尔语居民的健康和福祉产生更大的影响，并为科学发现的使用提供一种有效的方式。我们希望看到这样一个中心如何与工作场所的举措相结合，因为就业和就业能力是福祉的关键因素。将所有这些不同的组织和伙伴关系聚集在一起是完全可能的-许多人原则上已经签署了尝试-但这是一项需要详细计划的任务。该计划需要详细考虑做什么，在哪里，有多少人，以及如何应用科学和监测进展。写这个计划是这个提案的目的。