A smartphone app for improving mental health through connecting with urban nature
Journal article
Authors | McEwan, Kirsten, Richardson, Miles, Sheffield, David, Ferguson, Fiona and Brindley, Paul |
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Abstract | In an increasingly urbanised world where mental health is currently in crisis, interventions to increase human engagement and connection with the natural environment are one of the fastest growing, most widely accessible, and cost-effective ways of improving human wellbeing. This study aimed to provide an evaluation of a smartphone app-based wellbeing intervention. In a randomised controlled trial study design, the app prompted 582 adults, including a subgroup of adults classified by baseline scores on the Recovering Quality of Life scale as having a common mental health problem (n = 148), to notice the good things about urban nature (intervention condition) or built spaces (active control). There were statistically significant and sustained improvements in wellbeing at one-month follow-up. Importantly, in the noticing urban nature condition, compared to a built space control, improvements in quality of life reached statistical significance for all adults and clinical significance for those classified as having a mental health difficulty. This improvement in wellbeing was partly explained by significant increases in nature connectedness and positive affect. This study provides the first controlled experimental evidence that noticing the good things about urban nature has strong clinical potential as a wellbeing intervention and social prescription. |
Keywords | mental health; wellbeing; green space; mobile app; nature connectedness; social prescription |
Year | 2019 |
Journal | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
Publisher | MDPI |
ISSN | 16617827 |
16604601 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16183373 |
Web address (URL) | http://hdl.handle.net/10545/624214 |
hdl:10545/624214 | |
Publication dates | 12 Sep 2019 |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 09 Oct 2019, 14:37 |
Accepted | 07 Sep 2019 |
Contributors | University of Sheffield and University of Derby |
File | File Access Level Open |
File | File Access Level Open |
https://repository.derby.ac.uk/item/929q6/a-smartphone-app-for-improving-mental-health-through-connecting-with-urban-nature
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