Nature based resilience across the lifecourse

Our latest blog comes from our researcher Caroline Pearce, looking at the benefits of natural environments.

Policymakers are increasingly recognising the health and wellbeing benefits of natural environments. Improving access to natural environments, comprising green (parks, woods, forests) and blue (rivers, lakes, coastal areas) spaces, has become a key priority globally, as reflected in Goal 11.7 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals which aims ‘to provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities’.

Enhancing and supporting natural environments is key to mitigating the impacts of climate change, and the benefits to individual health and wellbeing are also significant. Nature contact has been associated with increased physical activity, improved mood, and decreased likelihood of developing mental disorders and chronic conditions. Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies have demonstrated associations between increased residential greenness and reduced risk of mortality from all causes, suggesting that proximity to greenspace is associated with increased longevity.

Natural environments have a direct impact on the health of ageing populations. Older people are among the most vulnerable to heat-related mortality caused by global warming. Living in greener areas is linked to a reduced risk of neurodegenerative disease and may slow telomere-associated ageing in later life. Greenspace exposure may also have health implications across the lifecourse. For example, access to public parks in childhood can have lifelong impacts, slowing down the rate of cognitive decline and improving mental health outcomes in later life. Recently, researchers have proposed that natural environments help to build, restore, and maintain stocks of biological, psychological, and social resilience resources arguing that nature can aid not only in recovery from poor health, but inform preventative measures across the lifecourse.

Access to natural environments is considered a central part of what enables people to ‘age in place’. However, we have found in our ACRC research that many older people report difficulties accessing natural environments and may not be able to realise the full benefits to their health. Natural environments are more likely to have hilly and uneven paths, lack sufficient public toilets and seating, and be difficult to access via public transport routes. These difficulties are more pronounced for older people living in rural areas and in lower-middle income countries, perspectives that are often absent in studies that draw largely on data from urban dwellers in developed countries. In rural areas of South Asia, for example, people die earlier than their urban counterparts due to a lack of basic health care, despite their greater access to greenspaces. Meanwhile, studies of people living in high-income countries continue to show that lower income individuals and deprived areas have the least exposure to green space, but have the potential to experience the greatest benefit, highlighting the influential role of greenspaces in reducing socioeconomic-related health inequalities. Unequal access to greenspaces and the impact on wellbeing outcomes forms part of the research evidence we are bringing together in a special issue on Ageing in Place, to better understand the role of diverse environments in supporting older adults to navigate place-based and health inequalities in their everyday lives.

The characteristics of greenspaces - whether they are walkable, safe, and accessible - are at least as important as proximity. Research into associations between greenspaces and health outcomes often use satellite imagery to show the proximity and quantity of greenspace in neighbourhoods but these methods cannot provide data on whether or how people use their local natural environments. In our research in ACRC Work Package 4 Understanding the Person in Context we have instead placed attention on understanding the types of activities older people would like to do in greenspaces to elucidate whether people feel supported by their environment to carry out the activities that are meaningful to them, providing a richer picture of how natural environments inform quality of life in later life. Through this research we have worked closely with older people and local communities to understand their needs and wishes to inform the design and planning of greenspaces. Including the perspectives of older people in research and policy on greenspaces and health can help ensure that natural environments enable people to flourish in later life rather than become a limiting factor on people’s functional ability.

Natural environments are multifaceted and exist within complex ecosystems, of which we are a part. Better appreciation of the relationship between people and nature across the lifecourse can be mutually beneficial in promoting resilience for individuals, communities, and the planet.

For more details and to submit to our special issue on Ageing in Place: Critical Perspectives, see:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/special-issue/319029/ageing-in-place-critical-perspectives