scholarly journals Developing Resilience, Independence and Well-being in Older Adults through Interactive Outdoor Space

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Kershaw ◽  
J Lim ◽  
Jacqueline McIntosh ◽  
J Cornwall ◽  
Bruno Marques

© Copyright 2017 NCEUB. The morbidity rates in populations of older persons are rising in parallel with increases in life expectancy. Increases in the numbers of older persons, many of whom will be physically dependent, will challenge communities both economically and socially. To compensate for this health loss and the subsequent demands placed on the health care system, there is a growing demand for effective preventative public exercise interventions to enable the ageing population to maintain independence and enjoy a healthier lifestyle. The provision of age-appropriate playground and exercise equipment for older persons has been gaining international popularity and is expected to become increasingly popular among local governments as a direct result of rhetoric relating to the development of age-friendly cities. Using a multidisciplinary lens, this project maps desired rehabilitation outcomes with exercise equipment design and landscape architecture. It seeks to identify both physical and motivational strategies that are most successful in maintaining good health and well-being in old age. Findings suggest that there is demand for open public space interventions that can safely train balance, muscular strength, and cardiovascular fitness. However, there is a lack of health research examining the usefulness and the sustainability of currently available equipment. There is also a necessity to address participation barriers and manage potential adherence issues that prohibit older persons from engaging in beneficial physical activity.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Kershaw ◽  
J Lim ◽  
Jacqueline McIntosh ◽  
J Cornwall ◽  
Bruno Marques

© Copyright 2017 NCEUB. The morbidity rates in populations of older persons are rising in parallel with increases in life expectancy. Increases in the numbers of older persons, many of whom will be physically dependent, will challenge communities both economically and socially. To compensate for this health loss and the subsequent demands placed on the health care system, there is a growing demand for effective preventative public exercise interventions to enable the ageing population to maintain independence and enjoy a healthier lifestyle. The provision of age-appropriate playground and exercise equipment for older persons has been gaining international popularity and is expected to become increasingly popular among local governments as a direct result of rhetoric relating to the development of age-friendly cities. Using a multidisciplinary lens, this project maps desired rehabilitation outcomes with exercise equipment design and landscape architecture. It seeks to identify both physical and motivational strategies that are most successful in maintaining good health and well-being in old age. Findings suggest that there is demand for open public space interventions that can safely train balance, muscular strength, and cardiovascular fitness. However, there is a lack of health research examining the usefulness and the sustainability of currently available equipment. There is also a necessity to address participation barriers and manage potential adherence issues that prohibit older persons from engaging in beneficial physical activity.


Author(s):  
Karl Samuelsson ◽  
Stephan Barthel ◽  
Johan Colding ◽  
Gloria Macassa ◽  
Matteo Giusti

The 2020 coronavirus pandemic caused countries across the world to implement measures of social distancing to curb spreading of COVID-19. The large and sudden disruptions to everyday life that result from this are likely to impact well-being, particularly among urban populations that live in dense settings with limited public space. In this paper, we argue that during these extraordinary circumstances, urban nature offers resilience for maintaining well-being in urban populations, while enabling social distancing. We discuss more generally the critical role of urban nature in times of crisis. Cities around the world need to take the step into the 21st century by accepting crises as a new reality and finding ways to function during these disturbances. Thus, maintaining or increasing space for nature in cities and keeping it accessible to the public should be part of the sustainability agenda, aiming simultaneously to strive towards SDG 3 (good health and well-being), and SDG 11 (sustainable and resilient cities).


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 538-551
Author(s):  
Olga V. Artemova ◽  
Natalia M. Logacheva ◽  
Anastasia N. Savchenko

Urban studies examine the development of industrial cities regarding the well-being of citizens, their needs and quality of life. Due to a new understanding of industrial cities as towns for people, the role and place of man in the urban space should be reconsidered. We developed a model for structuring the industrial city space based on a retrospective analysis of urban development. Further, we revealed the characteristics of shrinking cities and determined how the harmonisation of the urban environment influences the society. The interaction between physical and social spaces was analysed from the perspective of object- subject relations, enriching the understanding of the categories of place and entity (residential area, public space, etc.), as well as allowing citizens to deliberately transform their environment. Using content analysis, we confirmed that the harmonisation of the urban environment (physical space) stabilises social relations, since the population, government and business should reach a consensus to achieve the city’s goal and satisfy their own needs and interests. The results of the urban space analysis reveal the disparities between historical and modern buildings, natural and urbanised areas, industrial and residential city areas, etc., that should be eliminated. The directions of harmonisation of the urban space (revitalisation of industrial facilities and marginal areas, housing renovation) are proposed. We tested different approaches on the example of cities in the Chelyabinsk region by analysing their development stages, signs of decline, and urban characteristics. We are continuing to study the development of industrial cities. Public authorities and local governments can use the obtained results to elaborate urban development strategies, as well as implement the national projects «Housing and Urban Environment» and «Demography» at the regional and municipal levels.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-178
Author(s):  
Manfredo Manfredini ◽  
Adrian Lo ◽  
Dory E Reeves

The aim of this article is to reflect on and share the findings of the Networking Event ‘Give us Space: Augmented public space geographies in the changing public/private relationships.’ The Event addressed emerging spatial issues in the production of the public realm of contemporary cities. This topic has been at the centre of the discourse on urbanism in both humanities and social sciences for decades, reflecting the increasing interest in spatial problems that have contributed to the crisis of public life in the socioeconomic, cultural and political spheres. The recent pervasion of spatial privatisation and public sphere mediatisation processes require a refoundation of this discourse. The discussions addressed some of the key areas of concern raised by the New Urban Agenda (NUA) related to open space, focusing on socio-spatial problems in the pervading production of semi-public spaces in contexts of rapid urbanization. Using a comparative urbanism perspective that highlighted the expanding role of digital geography, it elaborated upon specific Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These are the goals concerned with good health and well-being (3), reduced inequalities (10), sustainable cities and communities (11), and partnerships for the goals (17). The event created a platform for knowledge exchange and networking amongst stakeholders. This aimed to 1) build capacity in both research and practice; 2) identify problems, limitations, and opportunities with respect to the various actors and stakeholders of urban public space; 3) highlight issues concerning less advantaged groups in society: children, youth and elderly, ‘differently-able,’ indigenous people, marginalized genders, migrants and socioeconomically deprived people.


Author(s):  
Lyudmyla Mishchenko ◽  
◽  
Dmytro Mishchenko ◽  

The actualization of the results of financial decentralization in Ukraine as part of the reform of decentralization of power and the development of proposals for its improvement is explained by the fact that a clear division of functions, powers and financial resources between national and regional levels is the basis for the well-being of our citizens. opportunities for its sustainable socio- economic development on a democratic basis. It is noted that financial decentralization is a process of giving authority to mobilize revenues and expenditures of local governments in order to increase the effectiveness of the implementation of these powers and better management of community budgets. It is established that unlike traditional entrepreneurship, which focuses on profit generation, the purpose of social entrepreneurship is to create and accumulate social capital. Abroad, social enterprises operate successfully in the fields of education, the environment, human rights, poverty reduction and health care, and their development and dissemination is one way to improve the living conditions of citizens. A similar mission is entrusted to local governments, which allows us to consider the revival of social entrepreneurship as an important element in improving self-government policy. It is determined that in modern conditions social entrepreneurship is one of the tools to ensure the ability of the local community to provide its members with an appropriate level of education, culture, health, housing and communal services, social protection, etc., as well as plan and implement programs efficient use of available natural and human resources, investment and infrastructural support of territorial communities. Due to financial decentralization, local governments have received additional resources that can be used to create economic incentives to promote social entrepreneurship in small and medium-sized businesses at the community level.


Author(s):  
Gordon C.C. Douglas

When cash-strapped local governments don’t provide adequate services, and planning policies prioritize economic development over community needs, what is a concerned citizen to do? In the help-yourself city, you do it yourself. The Help-Yourself City presents the results of nearly five years of in-depth research on people who take urban planning into their own hands with unauthorized yet functional and civic-minded “do-it-yourself urban design” projects. Examples include homemade traffic signs and public benches, guerrilla gardens and bike lanes, even citizen development “proposals,” all created in public space without permission but in forms analogous to official streetscape design elements. With research across 17 cities and more than 100 interviews with do-it-yourselfers, professional planners, and community members, the book explores who is creating these unauthorized improvements, where, and why. In doing so, it demonstrates the way uneven development processes are experienced and responded to in everyday life. Yet the democratic potential of this increasingly celebrated trend is brought into question by the privileged characteristics of typical do-it-yourself urban designers, the aesthetics and cultural values of the projects they create, and the relationship between DIY efforts and mainstream planning and economic development. Despite its many positive impacts, DIY urban design is a worryingly undemocratic practice, revealing the stubborn persistence of inequality in participatory citizenship and the design of public space. The book thus presents a needed critical analysis of an important trend, connecting it to research on informality, legitimacy, privilege, and urban political economy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingsheng Liu ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Jiaming Zhang ◽  
Xiaoming Wang ◽  
Yuan Chang ◽  
...  

AbstractAchieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a long-term task, which puts forward high requirements on the sustainability of related policies and actions. Using the text analysis method, we analyze the China National Sustainable Communities (CNSCs) policy implemented over 30 years and its effects on achieving SDGs. We find that the national government needs to understand the scope of sustainable development more comprehensively, the sustained actions can produce positive effects under the right goals. The SDGs selection of local governments is affected by local development levels and resource conditions, regions with better economic foundations tend to focus on SDGs on human well-being, regions with weaker foundations show priority to basic SDGs on the economic development, infrastructures and industrialization.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva S. van den Ende ◽  
◽  
Bo Schouten ◽  
Marjolein N. T. Kremers ◽  
Tim Cooksley ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Truly patient-centred care needs to be aligned with what patients consider important, and is highly desirable in the first 24 h of an acute admission, as many decisions are made during this period. However, there is limited knowledge on what matters most to patients in this phase of their hospital stay. The objective of this study was to identify what mattered most to patients in acute care and to assess the patient perspective as to whether their treating doctors were aware of this. Methods This was a large-scale, qualitative, flash mob study, conducted simultaneously in sixty-six hospitals in seven countries, starting November 14th 2018, ending 50 h later. One thousand eight hundred fifty adults in the first 24 h of an acute medical admission were interviewed on what mattered most to them, why this mattered and whether they felt the treating doctor was aware of this. Results The most reported answers to “what matters most (and why)?” were ‘getting better or being in good health’ (why: to be with family/friends or pick-up life again), ‘getting home’ (why: more comfortable at home or to take care of someone) and ‘having a diagnosis’ (why: to feel less anxious or insecure). Of all patients, 51.9% felt the treating doctor did not know what mattered most to them. Conclusions The priorities for acutely admitted patients were ostensibly disease- and care-oriented and thus in line with the hospitals’ own priorities. However, answers to why these were important were diverse, more personal, and often related to psychological well-being and relations. A large group of patients felt their treating doctor did not know what mattered most to them. Explicitly asking patients what is important and why, could help healthcare professionals to get to know the person behind the patient, which is essential in delivering patient-centred care. Trial registration NTR (Netherlands Trial Register) NTR7538.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 112-112
Author(s):  
Zvi Gellis ◽  
Kim McClive-Reed ◽  
Bonnie Kenaley ◽  
Eunhae Kim

Abstract Meaning in life for older persons has become a focal research point, with findings that a greater sense of meaning is associated with better outcomes on a range of health and well-being factors. Our study examined relationships between scores on several personality scales, including the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (Steger et al., 2009) and the WHO-5 Well-Being Index, a proxy measure of mood/depression. Community-dwelling members (N=535) of Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes aged 50 and up (mean age 71.4, SD = 6.93) at 3 U.S. sites completed surveys. Higher wellness levels were significantly correlated with increased resilience, optimism, life satisfaction, and presence of meaning in life, while lower levels were associated with greater searching for meaning in life. A multivariate linear regression model (F = 55.597, df = 4, p = .000, R = .566, R2 = .320) showed that wellness scores increased with higher scores in optimism (ß = .348, p =.000), resilience (ß = .183, p = .000), and presence of meaning in life (ß = .106, p = .019). However, searching for meaning in life significantly predicted decreases in wellness scores (ß = -.084, p=.019). These results support those of previous studies, suggesting that for older persons, an ongoing search for meaning in life is linked to negative outcomes than a perception of existing meaning in life. A variety of available interventions aimed at increasing meaning and purpose in life (Guerrero-Torelles et al., 2017) may contribute to better health and well-being in older adults.


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