Experiences of greenspace and wellbeing for asylum seekers and refugess (ASARs) in Leeds

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This project aims to investigate further the correlation between greenspace and wellbeing amongst ASARsResearch Questions Q1 Which aspects of greenspace are most valued by ASARs, and what perceptions, experiences, practices, and barriers inform these values? Q2 Are the features and facilities of greenspace most-valued by ASARs reflected in their local areas? Q3 How can an intervention be used to enhance the mental wellbeing benefits of urban greenspaces for ASARs? Methods Participants for research of Q1 and Q3 will be recruited via opportunity sampling through organisations such as Leeds Asylum Seekers Support Network. Q1. Using photovoice, participants will be requested to send in up to 10 photos each of outdoor spaces they like to visit in Leeds. They will then be invited to a semi-structured interview to discuss their photos. In a short photo elicitation session, the same participants will also be shown images of greenspaces and asked questions to gauge their preferences and experiences of them. Jefferson transcription and thematic analysis will be used and themes will inform the research directions for the rest of the project. Q2. The above interviews will illuminate the outdoor features most valued by ASARs. Using national census data, middle layer super output areas with high BAME populations and low average salaries will be identified, as ASARs tend to intersect these groups. GIS will help measure distances from these streets to ASAR-valued features. These will be sampled via stratified random sampling so that streets with different distances to ASAR-valued features are selected. Surveys will be conducted on these streets using a standardised mental health questionnaire (e.g. Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale[19]) to allow comparison with existing studies. Mental health score and distance to ASAR-valued features will be correlated to investigate any effect. Other influencing and confounding factors, like income, will be accounted for in analysis. Complex influences on participant mental health may be represented using a directed acyclic graph. Q3. Barriers to greenspace identified in the interviews will inform the design of an intervention to increase ASAR's benefit from greenspace. This will be co-designed with participants to ensure the design is relevant, informed by experience, and addresses the barriers seen as most critical by participants.