Ecominds effects on mental wellbeing: An evaluation for Mind

Rachel Bragg, Carly Wood & Jo Barton Essex Sustainablitiy institute and School of Biological Sciences - University of Essex

Published by Mind 15-19 Broadway Stratford London E15 4BQ Tel: 020 8519 2122 mind.org.uk © Mind 2013 We provide advice and support to anyone experiencing a mental health problem. We campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding. First published 2013 by Mind Mind’s registered charity number is: 219830 All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form ISBN: 978-1-906759-79-7 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Authors: Rachel Bragg, Carly Wood and Jo Barton Essex Sustainability Institute and School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex. Design by Carbon Creative Printed in the UK by Healeys Print Group

An evaluation for Mind 1

Ecominds effects on mental wellbeing An evaluation for Mind Rachel Bragg, Carly Wood and Jo Barton School of Biological Sciences and Essex Sustainability Institute, University of Essex

Contents Acknowledgements....................................................... 3 Glossary........................................................................ 3 Executive summary....................................................... 4 1. Nature and mental wellbeing................................. 9 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Mental ill-health in the UK 1.3 Mental wellbeing and contact with nature 1.3.1 Health and mental wellbeing 1.3.2 Nature and wellbeing – The evidence 1.4 Ecotherapy and green care 1.4.1 Ecotherapy interventions 1.5 Using ecotherapy for wellbeing 1.5.1 Ecotherapy and the Five Ways to Wellbeing 1.5.2 Ecotherapy and healthy life pathways 1.6 Ecotherapy and resilience 1.7 Ecotherapy as a treatment for depression 1.8 Ecotherapy in the UK 1.9 Limitations of evidence 1.9.1 Limitation of current evidence base 1.9.2 Evaluation of ecotherapy interventions 2. Ecominds evaluation ............................................ 25 2.1 Background 2.2 Ecominds wellbeing evaluation 2.3 Green Exercise Research Team at the University of Essex 2.3.1 Aims 2.3.2 Key objectives 2.4 The Green Exercise Research Team at the University of Essex 3. Methodology......................................................... 27

3.1 Overview of research process 3.2 Evaluation design and sampling strategy

3.2.1 The ‘All projects’ evaluation 3.2.2 The ‘In-depth’ evaluation 3.3 Evaluation support for projects 3.4 Ethics, consent and data protection 3.5 Questionnaires 3.6 Outcome measures 3.6.1 Mental wellbeing 3.6.2 Social inclusion 3.6.3 Connection to nature 3.6.4 Healthy lifestyles 3.6.5 Environmental behaviour 3.6.6 Other aspects of the questionnaire 3.7 Statistical analyses 3.8 Organisations of results in this report 4. Results: ‘All projects’ evaluation........................... 37 4.1 ‘All projects’ evaluation: Key Findings 4.2 About the ‘All projects’ evaluation 4.3 About the participants 4.4 About the projects 4.5 Mental wellbeing findings 4.5.1 Perceived positivity 4.6 Social inclusion findings 4.6.1 Neighbourhood belonging 4.6.2 Importance of being with other people 4.7 Connection to nature findings 4.7.1 Perceived connection to nature 4.7.2 Importance of being outside in nature 4.8 Healthy lifestyles findings 4.8.1 Perceived health 4.8.2 Importance of exercise 4.8.3 Importance of healthy food 4.9 Comparative importance of aspects of the Ecominds programme 4.10 Other findings

2 Ecominds effects on mental wellbeing

5. Results: ‘In-depth’ evaluation................................ 46

6. General discussion............................................... 67

5.1 ‘In-depth’ evaluation: Key findings 5.2 About the ‘In-depth’ evaluation 5.3 About the projects, participants and activities 5.3.1 The projects in the evaluation 5.3.2 The participants 5.3.3 Activities, sessions and time spent at the project 5.4