How Gardening in Detroit Influences Physical and Mental Health.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Beavers AW
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9265422 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:ObjectivePediatric positive health refers to children's assessments of their well-being. The purpose of this study was to contrast positive health for children aged 8 to 17 years with and without chronic physical and mental health conditions.MethodsData were drawn from the National Institutes of Health Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) research program. Participants included 1764 children ages 8 to 17 years from 13 ECHO cohorts. We measured positive health using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pediatric Global Health and Life Satisfaction patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures. We used multiple regression to examine cross-sectional associations between the PROs and parent-reported health conditions and sociodemographic variables. We defined a meaningful difference in average scores as a PROMIS T-score difference of >3.ResultsThe sample included 45% 13 to 17-year-olds, 50% females, 8% Latinx, and 23% Black/African-American. Fifty-four percent had a chronic health condition. Of the 16 chronic conditions included in the study, only chronic pain (β = -3.5; 95% CI: -5.2 to -1.9) and depression (β = -6.6; 95% CI: -8.5 to -4.6) were associated with scoring >3 points lower on global health. Only depression was associated with >3 points lower on life satisfaction (β = -6.2; 95% CI: -8.1 to -4.3). Among those with depression, 95% also had another chronic condition.ConclusionsMany children with chronic conditions have similar levels of positive health as counterparts without chronic conditions. The study results suggest that negative associations between chronic conditions and positive health may be primarily attributable to presence or co-occurrence of depression.
| S-EPMC9339582 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC9338833 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionIndividuals living in low-income neighborhoods have disproportionately high rates of obesity, Type-2 diabetes, and cardiometabolic conditions. Perceived safety in one's neighborhood may influence stress and physical activity, with cascading effects on cardiometabolic health.MethodsIn this study, we examined relationships among feelings of safety while walking during the day and mental health [perceived stress (PSS), depression score], moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (PA), Body Mass Index (BMI), and hemoglobin A1C (A1C) in low-income, high-vacancy neighborhoods in Detroit, Michigan. We recruited 69 adults who wore accelerometers for one week and completed a survey on demographics, mental health, and neighborhood perceptions. Anthropometrics were collected and A1C was measured using A1CNow test strips. We compiled spatial data on vacant buildings and lots across the city. We fitted conventional and multilevel regression models to predict each outcome, using perceived safety during daytime walking as the independent variable of interest and individual or both individual and neighborhood-level covariates (e.g., number of vacant lots). Last, we examined trends in neighborhood features according to perceived safety.ResultsIn this predominantly African American sample (91%), 47% felt unsafe during daytime walking. Feelings of perceived safety significantly predicted PSS (β = - 2.34, p = 0.017), depression scores (β = - 4.22, p = 0.006), and BMI (β = - 2.87, p = 0.01), after full adjustment. For PA, we detected a significant association for sex only. For A1C we detected significant associations with blighted lots near the home. Those feeling unsafe lived in neighborhoods with higher park area and number of blighted lots.ConclusionFuture research is needed to assess a critical pathway through which neighborhood features, including vacant or poor-quality green spaces, may affect obesity-via stress reduction and concomitant effects on cardiometabolic health.
| S-EPMC8091672 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Gardening has well-established physical, social, and emotional benefits for older adults in varied circumstances. In Detroit, Michigan (United States of America), as in many cities, policymakers, funders, researchers, community organizations, and residents regard gardening as a means of transforming bodies, persons, communities, cities, and broader polities. We draw on ethnographic research conducted during one gardening season with 27 older African Americans in Detroit to foreground the social dimensions of wellbeing in later life and thus develop a more robust and nuanced understanding of gardening's benefits for older adults. Based on anthropological understandings of personhood and kinship, this article expands concepts of wellbeing to include social relations across multiple scales (individual, interpersonal, community, state) and temporalities (of the activity itself, experiences of ageing, city life). Even when performed alone, gardening fosters connections with the past, as gardeners are reminded of deceased loved ones through practices and the plants themselves, and with the future, through engagement with youth and community. Elucidating intimate connections and everyday activities of older African American long-term city residents counters anti-black discourses of "revitalization." An expansive concept of wellbeing has implications for understanding the generative potential of meaningful social relations in later life and the vitality contributed by older adults living in contexts of structural inequality.
| S-EPMC7450878 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PurposePeople with severe mental ill-health (SMI) experience profound health inequalities. The Optimizing Wellbeing in Self-isolation study (OWLS) explored the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on people with SMI, including how and why their physical and mental health may have changed during the pandemic.MethodsThe OLWS study comprised two surveys and two nested qualitative studies. Of 367 people recruited to the study, 235 expressed interest in taking part in a qualitative interview. In the first qualitative study eighteen interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of participants.ResultsWe identified six factors which influenced peoples' health, positively and negatively: Staying Physically Active; Maintaining a Balanced and Healthy Diet; Work or Not Working; Daily Routine and Good Sleep; Staying Connected to Family, Friends and the Local Community; and Habits, Addictions and Coping with Anxiety Created by the Pandemic.ConclusionsDifferent aspects of lifestyle are highly interconnected. For people with SMI, loss of routine and good sleep, poor diet and lack of exercise can compound each other, leading to a decline in physical and mental health. If people are supported to understand what helps them stay well, they can establish their own frameworks to draw on during difficult times.
| S-EPMC9467576 | biostudies-literature
Project description:With an ever-increasing urban population, promoting public health and well-being in towns and cities is a major challenge. Previous research has suggested that participating in allotment gardening delivers a wide range of health benefits. However, evidence from quantitative analyses is still scarce. Here, we quantify the effects, if any, of participating in allotment gardening on physical, psychological and social health. A questionnaire survey of 332 people was performed in Tokyo, Japan. We compared five self-reported health outcomes between allotment gardeners and non-gardener controls: perceived general health, subjective health complaints, body mass index (BMI), mental health and social cohesion. Accounting for socio-demographic and lifestyle variables, regression models revealed that allotment gardeners, compared to non-gardeners, reported better perceived general health, subjective health complaints, mental health and social cohesion. BMI did not differ between gardeners and non-gardeners. Neither frequency nor duration of gardening significantly influenced reported health outcomes. Our results highlight that regular gardening on allotment sites is associated with improved physical, psychological and social health. With the recent escalation in the prevalence of chronic diseases, and associated healthcare costs, this study has a major implication for policy, as it suggests that urban allotments have great potential for preventative healthcare.
| S-EPMC5295322 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Although many people affected by COVID-19 suffer from some form of psychological distress, access to proper treatment or psychosocial interventions has been limited. This study aimed to examine the feasibility and preliminary effects of a therapeutic gardening program conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program consisted of 30 sessions and was conducted at 10 nationwide sites in Korea from June to November 2021. Mental health and well-being were assessed using the Mental Health Screening Tool for Depressive Disorders, Mental Health Screening Tool for Anxiety Disorders, Engagement in Daily Activity Scale, brief version of World Health Organization Quality of Life, and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. Cohen's d value was calculated for the effect size, and a multilevel analysis was used to determine the longitudinal effects of therapeutic gardening. The effect sizes for depression, anxiety, daily activities, quality of life, and mindfulness were 0.84, 0.72, 0.61, 0.64, and 0.40, respectively. Multilevel analyses showed that all five mental health variables improved significantly over time as the therapeutic gardening program progressed. Therapeutic gardening is promising and applicable as a nature-based intervention to improve the mental health of individuals experiencing psychological distress especially in the COVID-19 pandemic.
| S-EPMC9266122 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundGardening and horticultural therapy (HT) has been widely recognised as a multicomponent approach that has affected a broad range of health and well-being outcomes. The aim of this umbrella review and meta-analysis was to compare the findings of previous reviews on the impact of multiple gardening interventions and gardening attributes on different well-being constructs.MethodsElectronic databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, the Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar were searched from inception to December 2022. Interventional and observational reviews were eligible for inclusion in this umbrella review. Outcome measures included mental well-being, health status and quality of life. The key exposure variables were gardening and horticultural therapy. Narrative synthesis was used to evaluate the overall impact of gardening and HT on study outcomes. For a subsample of studies with available quantitative data, a random effect meta-analysis was conducted.ResultsThis umbrella review included 40 studies (10 interventional studies, 2 observational studies, and 28 mixed interventional and observational studies). The reviewed studies reported an overall positive impact of gardening activities on several measures of mental well-being, quality of life, and health status. Meta-analysis showed a significant and positive effect of gardening and HT activities on well-being (effect size (ES) 0.55, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.23, 0.87, p < 0.001).ConclusionsEvidence from observational and interventional studies supports a positive role for gardening and HT activities on well-being and general health. Interventional studies with horticultural-based therapies were effective in improving well-being and quality of life both in the general population and vulnerable subgroups. The high degree of heterogeneity in the included studies cautions against any direct clinical implications of the study findings.
| S-EPMC10823662 | biostudies-literature
Project description:There is increasing evidence that gardening provides substantial human health benefits. However, no formal statistical assessment has been conducted to test this assertion. Here, we present the results of a meta-analysis of research examining the effects of gardening, including horticultural therapy, on health. We performed a literature search to collect studies that compared health outcomes in control (before participating in gardening or non-gardeners) and treatment groups (after participating in gardening or gardeners) in January 2016. The mean difference in health outcomes between the two groups was calculated for each study, and then the weighted effect size determined both across all and sets of subgroup studies. Twenty-two case studies (published after 2001) were included in the meta-analysis, which comprised 76 comparisons between control and treatment groups. Most studies came from the United States, followed by Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Studies reported a wide range of health outcomes, such as reductions in depression, anxiety, and body mass index, as well as increases in life satisfaction, quality of life, and sense of community. Meta-analytic estimates showed a significant positive effect of gardening on the health outcomes both for all and sets of subgroup studies, whilst effect sizes differed among eight subgroups. Although Egger's test indicated the presence of publication bias, significant positive effects of gardening remained after adjusting for this using trim and fill analysis. This study has provided robust evidence for the positive effects of gardening on health. A regular dose of gardening can improve public health.
| S-EPMC5153451 | biostudies-literature
Project description:OBJECTIVES:To prospectively examine the health and health-related behaviors of Army Special Forces personnel in comparison with two distinct, but functionally similar Army groups. METHODS:Special Forces, Ranger Qualified, and General Purposes Forces enrolled in the Millennium Cohort Study were identified using data from the Defense Manpower Data Center. Using prospective survey data (2001-2014), we estimated the association of Army specialization with mental health, social support, physical health, and health-related behaviors with multivariable regression models. RESULTS:Among the 5,392 eligible participants (84.4% General Purposes Forces, 10.0% Special Forces, 5.6% Ranger Qualified), Special Forces personnel reported the lowest prevalence of mental disorders, physical health problems, and unhealthy behaviors. In the multivariable models, Special Forces personnel were less likely to report mental health problems, multiple somatic symptoms, and unhealthy behaviors compared with General Purpose Forces infantrymen (odds ratios [OR]: 0.20-0.54, p-values < .01). Overall, Special Forces personnel were similar in terms of mental and physical health compared with Ranger Qualified infantrymen, but were less likely to sleep < 5 hours/night (OR: 0.60, 95% confidence intervals: 0.40, 0.92) and have 5 or more multiple somatic symptoms (OR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.49, 0.98). Both Special Forces personnel and Ranger Qualified infantrymen engaged in more healthy behaviors compared with General Purpose Forces infantrymen (OR: 2.57-6.22, p-values<0.05). Engagement in more healthy behaviors reduced the odds of subsequent adverse health outcomes, regardless of specialization. CONCLUSIONS:Army Special Forces personnel were found to be mentally and physically healthier than General Purpose Forces infantrymen, which may in part be due to their tendency to engage in healthy behaviors. Findings indicate that engagement in a greater number of healthy behaviors may reduce odds for subsequent adverse outcomes.
| S-EPMC7269253 | biostudies-literature