scholarly journals Influence of Nature at the Time of the Pandemic: An Experience-Based Survey at the Time of SARS-CoV-2 to Demonstrate How Even a Short Break in Nature Can Reduce Stress for Healthcare Staff

2021 ◽  
pp. 193758672199111
Author(s):  
Marco Gola ◽  
Monica Botta ◽  
Anna Lisa D’Aniello ◽  
Stefano Capolongo
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Community ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Hospital Staff ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Profile Of Mood States ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Healthcare Staff ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Multidisciplinary Working ◽  
The Moment

Aim: The current COVID-19 pandemic has been causing significant upheavals in the daily lives of citizens and consequently also their mood (stress, distraction, anxiety, etc.), especially during the lockdown phase. The aim of the investigation is to evaluate the benefits of 20–30 minutes in contact with nature. Background: The Scientific Community, also through the evidence-based design approach, has already demonstrated the importance of greenery and nature on the psychophysical well-being of people and, in a moment of emergency, contact with the nature can be therapeutic and quite influential on the mental health of staff subject to stress. Method: During the lockdown, an Italian multidisciplinary working group promoted an experience-based survey, based on the Profile of Mood States methodology, for measuring the psychophysical well-being of hospital staff. Results: The author collected 77 questionnaires. The benefits that users have obtained from the experience in nature have been investigated by comparing the type of stresses they were subjected to and highlighting various peculiarities in the data analysis associated with the type of green in which they carried out the survey, the healthcare areas in which they worked during the pandemic emergency, and the moment in which the survey was conducted. Conclusions: The study has highlighted that a short break in green spaces strongly influenced the mental and psychophysical well-being of hospital staff, emphasizing the importance of nearby green spaces in architectures for health. Even a brief break in nature can regenerate users, especially in times of a stressful health emergency.

scholarly journals What should be done to support the mental health of healthcare staff treating COVID-19 patients?

2020 ◽  
Vol 217 (4) ◽  
pp. 537-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek K. Tracy ◽  
Mark Tarn ◽  
Rod Eldridge ◽  
Joanne Cooke ◽  
James D.F. Calder ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Moral Injury ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Healthcare Staff ◽  
Model Of Care ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Mental Health Support ◽  
Health Support

SummaryThere is an urgent need to provide evidence-based well-being and mental health support for front-line clinical staff managing the COVID-19 pandemic who are at risk of moral injury and mental illness. We describe the evidence base for a tiered model of care, and practical steps on its implementation.

MOTIVATION AND PLEASURE IN THE SCHIZOPHRENIA SPECTRUM–FINDINGS FROM THE PRODROME

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
G Foussias ◽  
G Remington ◽  
R Mizrahi
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Sampling Method ◽  
Personal Digital Assistant ◽  
Prodromal Phase ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Influence Functional ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Positive And Negative Symptoms

Background: Schizophreniais a chronic and debilitating illness that affects approximately one percent of the population. The symptoms of schizophrenia are typically thought of in separate domains, including positive symptoms (hallucinations and delusions), negative symptoms (diminished emotional expression and amotivation), and cognitive deficits. Importantly, the negative symptoms have been consistently found to adversely influence functional outcomes, in particular due to markedamotivation.^1 There have been suggestions that these individuals also experience deficits in the experience of pleasure, especially in their capacity to anticipate pleasure.^2 However, such investigations have not included the examination of these symptoms in those in the prodromal phase ofthis illness, a time that holds promise for early intervention and altering thecourse of schizophrenia.^3 Methods: In an effort to examine deficits in motivation and pleasure in the prodromal phase of schizophrenia, we have used an experience sampling method to assess “in the moment” motivation and pleasure in individuals at high risk of developing schizophrenia and healthy controls. Subjects completed baseline assessments including evaluation of their positive and negative symptoms. Subsequently, through the use of a personal digital assistant, subjects rated their motivation and experience of consummatory and anticipatory pleasure in their daily lives, multiple times over the course of four days. Results and Conclusions: Preliminary data will be presented, as well as the importance of these findings in the context of understanding the underlying pathobiology of this illness, and guiding our search for effective treatments to improvefunctional outcomes in schizophrenia. References: 1. Sayers SL, Curran PJ, Mueser KT. Psychol Assessment 1996;8:269-80. 2. Gard DE, Kring AM, Gard GM, et al.. Schizophr Res 2007;93:253-60.

Organizational Evidence-Based and Promising Practices for Improving Clinician Well-Being

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine A. Sinsky ◽  
Lee Daugherty Biddison ◽  
Aditi Mallick ◽  
Anna Legreid Dopp ◽  
Jessica Perlo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Promising Practices

scholarly journals Evidence-Based Landscape Architecture for Human Health and Well-Being

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert D. Brown ◽  
Robert C. Corry
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
Landscape Architecture ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
The People ◽  
Outdoor Environments ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Health And Well Being

More than 80% of the people in the USA and Canada live in cities. Urban development replaces natural environments with built environments resulting in limited access to outdoor environments which are critical to human health and well-being. In addition, many urban open spaces are unused because of poor design. This paper describes case studies where traditional landscape architectural design approaches would have compromised design success, while evidence-based landscape architecture (EBLA) resulted in a successful product. Examples range from school-yard design that provides safe levels of solar radiation for children, to neighborhood parks and sidewalks that encourage people to walk and enjoy nearby nature. Common characteristics for integrating EBLA into private, public, and academic landscape architecture practice are outlined along with a discussion of some of the opportunities and barriers to implementation.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the Equity and Regional Management of Some Urban Green Space Ecosystem Services: A Case Study of Main Urban Area of Xi’an City

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 813
Author(s):  
Hui Dang ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Yumeng Zhang ◽  
Zixiang Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Urban Green Space ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Deposition Flux ◽  
Urban Green ◽  
Xi’An City

Urban green spaces can provide many types of ecosystem services for residents. An imbalance in the pattern of green spaces leads to an inequality of the benefits of such spaces. Given the current situation of environmental problems and the basic geographical conditions of Xi’an City, this study evaluated and mapped four kinds of ecosystem services from the perspective of equity: biodiversity, carbon sequestration, air purification, and climate regulation. Regionalization with dynamically constrained agglomerative clustering and partitioning (REDCAP) was used to obtain the partition groups of ecosystem services. The results indicate that first, the complexity of the urban green space community is low, and the level of biodiversity needs to be improved. The dry deposition flux of particulate matter (PM2.5) decreases from north to south, and green spaces enhance the adsorption of PM2.5. Carbon sequestration in the south and east is higher than that in the north and west, respectively. The average surface temperature in green spaces is lower than that in other urban areas. Second, urban green space resources in the study area are unevenly distributed. Therefore, ecosystem services in different areas are inequitable. Finally, based on the regionalization of integrated ecosystem services, an ecosystem services cluster was developed. This included 913 grid spaces, 12 partitions, and 5 clusters, which can provide a reference for distinct levels of ecosystem services management. This can assist urban managers who can use these indicators of ecosystem service levels for planning and guiding the overall development pattern of green spaces. The benefits would be a maximization of the ecological functions of green spaces, an improvement of the sustainable development of the city, and an improvement of people’s well-being.

scholarly journals Evidence-Based Design in Architectural Education: Designing the First Maggie’s Centre in Israel

2021 ◽  
pp. 193758672110079
Author(s):  
Nirit Putievsky Pilosof ◽  
Yasha Jacob Grobman
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Architectural Education ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Architecture Education ◽  
The Impact

Objective The study examines the integration of the Evidence-based Design (EBD) approach in healthcare architecture education in the context of an academic design studio. Background Previous research addressed the gap between scientific research and architectural practice and the lack of research on the use of the EBD approach in architectural education. Methods The research examines an undergraduate architectural studio to design a Maggie’s Centre for cancer care in Israel and evaluates the impact of the EBD approach on the design process and design outcomes. The research investigates the impact of the integration of three predesign tasks: (1) literature review of healing architecture research, (2) analysis and comparison of existing Maggie’s Centres, and (3) analysis of the context of the design project. Results The literature review of scientific research supported the conceptual design and development of the projects. The analysis of existing Maggie’s centers, which demonstrated the interpretation of the evidence by different architects, developed the students’ ability to evaluate EBD in practice critically, and the study of the projects’ local context led the students to define the relevance of the evidence to support their vision for the project. Conclusions The research demonstrates the advantages of practicing EBD at an early stage in healthcare architectural education to enhance awareness of the impact of architectural design on the users’ health and well-being and the potential to support creativity and innovative design. More studies in design studios are needed to assess the full impact of integrating EBD in architectural education.

scholarly journals Medical education challenges and innovations during COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. postgradmedj-2021-140032
Author(s):  
Michail Papapanou ◽  
Eleni Routsi ◽  
Konstantinos Tsamakis ◽  
Lampros Fotis ◽  
Georgios Marinos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Education ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Healthcare Staff ◽  
Academic Trajectories ◽  
Traditional Structure ◽  
Physical Presence ◽  
The Impact

COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly disrupted the well-established, traditional structure of medical education. Τhe new limitations of physical presence have accelerated the development of an online learning environment, comprising both of asynchronous and synchronous distance education, and the introduction of novel ways of student assessment. At the same time, this prolonged crisis had serious implications on the lives of medical students including their psychological well-being and the impact on their academic trajectories. The new reality has, on many occasions, triggered the ‘acting up’ of medical students as frontline healthcare staff, which has been perceived by many of them as a positive learning and contributing experience, and has led to a variety of responses from the educational institutions. All things considered, the urgency for rapid and novel adaptations to the new circumstances has functioned as a springboard for remarkable innovations in medical education,including the promotion of a more “evidence-based” approach.

scholarly journals Multispecies sustainability

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph D. D. Rupprecht ◽  
Joost Vervoort ◽  
Chris Berthelsen ◽  
Astrid Mangnus ◽  
Natalie Osborne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Resource Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Concept

Non-technical summary The sustainability concept seeks to balance how present and future generations of humans meet their needs. But because nature is viewed only as a resource, sustainability fails to recognize that humans and other living beings depend on each other for their well-being. We therefore argue that true sustainability can only be achieved if the interdependent needs of all species of current and future generations are met, and propose calling this ‘multispecies sustainability’. We explore the concept through visualizations and scenarios, then consider how it might be applied through case studies involving bees and healthy green spaces.

scholarly journals Uncovering Burdens, Examining Needs, and Shedding Assumptions of Evidence-Based Social Support Programs for Mothers: A Descriptive Qualitative Study in a Remote Community

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 233339362110357
Author(s):  
Johanna R. Jahnke ◽  
Julee Waldrop ◽  
Alasia Ledford ◽  
Beatriz Martinez
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Community Stakeholders ◽  
Significant Burden ◽  
Many Sources ◽  
Evidence Based Programs

Many studies have demonstrated a significant burden of maternal stress and depression for women living on the Galápagos Islands. Here, we aim to uncover burdens and needs of women with young children on San Cristóbal Island and then explore options for implementing evidence-based programs of social support to meet these needs. We conducted 17 semi-structured qualitative interviews with mothers of young children, healthcare workers, and community stakeholders. We then used Summary Oral Reflective Analysis (SORA), an interactive methodology, for qualitative analysis. Despite initial reports of a low-stress environment, women described many sources of stress and concerns for their own and their children’s health and well-being. We uncovered three broad areas of need for mothers of young children: (1) the need for information and services, (2) the need for trust, and (3) the need for space. In response to these concerns, mothers, healthcare workers, and community leaders overwhelmingly agreed that a social support program would be beneficial for the health of mothers and young children. Still, they expressed concern over the feasibility of such a program. To address these feasibility concerns, we propose that a web-based education and social support intervention led by nurses would best meet mothers’ needs. Women could learn about child health and development, develop strong, trusting friendships with other mothers, and have their own space to speak freely among experts and peers.

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