GREEN SPACE HEALTH STRATEGIES

PLACING PARKS & GREEN SPACES WITHIN PRIMARY PREVENTION

““A lot of it’s common sense and a lot of it we know, but what the strategy report does is bring some specific expertise and objective analysis and statistics around a whole range of health data, which just helps guide us in terms of priorities and also provides a document that we can show to funders.
— Kevin Crook Assistant Director Environment London Borough of Lambeth”

THE KEY ELEMENTS:

Green Space Health Strategies can be produced as documents in their own right, or can form part of wider Green Infrastructure or Open Space Strategies. They are set within and respond to the The Green Space Health Strategy Framework.

The Green Space Health Strategy Framework

The Framework integrates the development, management and use of parks within a context of Planning, Public Health, Primary Care and green social prescribing and community initiatives. As such it creates a natural link to the use of parks within primary prevention. It also provides a holistic and integrated basis for the use and funding of parks for health.

The Green Space Health Strategy.

Green Space Health Strategies can be developed for individual parks and for multiple parks across a Borough, City, Ward or community. Based upon the Green Space Health assessment, the Green Space Health Strategy represents an integrated approach to the delivery of health promoting parks and green spaces. Strategies can offer the following. They can:

  • Explore the health profile of the representative community, identifying the most vulnerable areas in terms of illness and deprivation across a range of avoidable health conditions.

  • Identify the guidance for health based policies and priorities

  • Identify existing health benefits which can be celebrated and promoted, and practical improvements and new interventions within each of the health criteria.

  • Identify opportunities for health promotion by Borough, City, Ward Community and Park

  • Explore the current state of green social prescribing linked to parks, and identify the potential for the development of a park based social prescribing network.

  • Provide the basis for the implementation of strategy through identified work streams

  • Explore opportunities for the funding of parks and green spaces for health and wellbeing

  • Identify the potential for the economic and social evaluation of park based health interventions

Such a strategy provides a vehicle to deliver public health interventions to address mental ill-health, physical inactivity and obesity, avoidable non-communicative diseases, and environmental risk factors.

Landscape Sketch Schemes, Masterplans and Activity Plans: Strategies can support the development of a range of landscape plans. These can interpret and apply the results of the assessments to individual parks and green spaces.

For more information, contact us below or via healthparks@gmail.com or send us a message.