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Enhancing health and wellbeing through green infrastructure design and construction: Impacts of the Fit For the Future project on NHS healthcare staff, patients and community members

Jason Davies Orcid Logo, Mark McKenna, Chelsea Hughes Orcid Logo, Kate Denner, Chris Dow, Kim Dienes Orcid Logo

Journal of Health Psychology

Swansea University Authors: Jason Davies Orcid Logo, Chelsea Hughes Orcid Logo, Kim Dienes Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1177/13591053261436074

Abstract

Spending work or leisure time in nature-based settings has positive impacts on health and wellbeing especially for those experiencing stress or those with poorer physical health, mental health or wellbeing. This research examined the impact of participation in a sustainable green infrastructure and...

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Published in: Journal of Health Psychology
ISSN: 1359-1053 1461-7277
Published: SAGE Publications 2026
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71624
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last_indexed 2026-04-29T05:27:13Z
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spelling 2026-04-28T10:11:26.8467571 v2 71624 2026-03-13 Enhancing health and wellbeing through green infrastructure design and construction: Impacts of the Fit For the Future project on NHS healthcare staff, patients and community members b7dab4136f5c9c0614cda9bf2d5910b0 0000-0002-1694-5370 Jason Davies Jason Davies true false 69a12f67c3e76913b201a94f1bcc14b4 0000-0003-0268-4357 Chelsea Hughes Chelsea Hughes true false 76108f6ac5e9dccfc581a09f7e5ef333 0000-0002-6119-7025 Kim Dienes Kim Dienes true false 2026-03-13 PSYS Spending work or leisure time in nature-based settings has positive impacts on health and wellbeing especially for those experiencing stress or those with poorer physical health, mental health or wellbeing. This research examined the impact of participation in a sustainable green infrastructure and landscape management project delivered through Down to Earth at a National Health Service (NHS) hospital site. The three participant groups comprising healthcare staff (n = 27), NHS patients (n = 37) and community participants (n = 22) experienced changes in one or more self-reported measures over time. Patient and community participants showed reductions in self-reported anxiety, boredom and sense of failure. Healthcare staff showed increased resilience, wellbeing, community connection, and connection to nature alongside a reduction in common mental health symptoms. These findings reveal positive impacts of “working in/with nature” on wellbeing and mental health, and provide novel evidence of their potential for improving the health/wellbeing of healthcare workers within their workplace. Journal Article Journal of Health Psychology 0 SAGE Publications 1359-1053 1461-7277 green care, sustainable construction, mental health, wellbeing, burnout 3 4 2026 2026-04-03 10.1177/13591053261436074 COLLEGE NANME Psychology School COLLEGE CODE PSYS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) The work described in this paper was funded through the Enabling Natural Resources and Well-being (ENRAW – European Union and Welsh Government) program and the National Lottery Community Fund “Growing Great Ideas” program. 2026-04-28T10:11:26.8467571 2026-03-13T12:02:31.4994420 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology Jason Davies 0000-0002-1694-5370 1 Mark McKenna 2 Chelsea Hughes 0000-0003-0268-4357 3 Kate Denner 4 Chris Dow 5 Kim Dienes 0000-0002-6119-7025 6 71624__36607__65a497b553194699bcc4297c331e5ce3.pdf 71624.VOR.pdf 2026-04-27T13:41:41.4405575 Output 229197 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
title Enhancing health and wellbeing through green infrastructure design and construction: Impacts of the Fit For the Future project on NHS healthcare staff, patients and community members
spellingShingle Enhancing health and wellbeing through green infrastructure design and construction: Impacts of the Fit For the Future project on NHS healthcare staff, patients and community members
Jason Davies
Chelsea Hughes
Kim Dienes
title_short Enhancing health and wellbeing through green infrastructure design and construction: Impacts of the Fit For the Future project on NHS healthcare staff, patients and community members
title_full Enhancing health and wellbeing through green infrastructure design and construction: Impacts of the Fit For the Future project on NHS healthcare staff, patients and community members
title_fullStr Enhancing health and wellbeing through green infrastructure design and construction: Impacts of the Fit For the Future project on NHS healthcare staff, patients and community members
title_full_unstemmed Enhancing health and wellbeing through green infrastructure design and construction: Impacts of the Fit For the Future project on NHS healthcare staff, patients and community members
title_sort Enhancing health and wellbeing through green infrastructure design and construction: Impacts of the Fit For the Future project on NHS healthcare staff, patients and community members
author_id_str_mv b7dab4136f5c9c0614cda9bf2d5910b0
69a12f67c3e76913b201a94f1bcc14b4
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author_id_fullname_str_mv b7dab4136f5c9c0614cda9bf2d5910b0_***_Jason Davies
69a12f67c3e76913b201a94f1bcc14b4_***_Chelsea Hughes
76108f6ac5e9dccfc581a09f7e5ef333_***_Kim Dienes
author Jason Davies
Chelsea Hughes
Kim Dienes
author2 Jason Davies
Mark McKenna
Chelsea Hughes
Kate Denner
Chris Dow
Kim Dienes
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container_title Journal of Health Psychology
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publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
issn 1359-1053
1461-7277
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publisher SAGE Publications
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
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description Spending work or leisure time in nature-based settings has positive impacts on health and wellbeing especially for those experiencing stress or those with poorer physical health, mental health or wellbeing. This research examined the impact of participation in a sustainable green infrastructure and landscape management project delivered through Down to Earth at a National Health Service (NHS) hospital site. The three participant groups comprising healthcare staff (n = 27), NHS patients (n = 37) and community participants (n = 22) experienced changes in one or more self-reported measures over time. Patient and community participants showed reductions in self-reported anxiety, boredom and sense of failure. Healthcare staff showed increased resilience, wellbeing, community connection, and connection to nature alongside a reduction in common mental health symptoms. These findings reveal positive impacts of “working in/with nature” on wellbeing and mental health, and provide novel evidence of their potential for improving the health/wellbeing of healthcare workers within their workplace.
published_date 2026-04-03T06:22:04Z
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