Facilitating Engagement with Hospital Grounds Greenspace Design, Development and Management for Health and Well-being

Project timescale: 01/04/11 - 30/12/12

Funder:  Arts & Humanities Reserach Council, Scottish Funding Council

Research Team:

 Dr Sarah-Anne Munoz, Principal Investigator, Centre for Rural Health

Amy Nimegeer, Researcher, Centre for Rural Health

A new Arts and Humanities Research Council funded knowledge-exchange project looking at involving staff and patients in the design, development and management of hospital greenspace will commence this month.  The project, led by researchers from the Centre for Rural Health, as well as partners in the Forestry Commission, NHS Tayside and NHS Highland, will start by looking at how several hospitals in Scotland currently involve staff and patients in using the adjacent greenspace.  This will inform the development of a series of engagement workshops at the new Forth Valley Hospital in Larbert that will involve staff and patients in the creation of new led activities to take place in the hospital's greenspace.  In addition to creating new activities, researchers will also be looking at quantifying the Social Return On Investment (SROI) that these activities create.

The health benefits of using greenspace are well documented, but there is less evidence about how to best involve or engage hospital staff and patients in creating led activities to maximise the benefits of these outdoor spaces.  Outputs from this project will include a report, a toolkit of best practice on engagement for greenspace use, and a transferable SROI framework applicable to other hospital greenspace settings.

For more information on the project, please contact either Amy Nimegeer amy.nimegeer@uhi.ac.uk or Sarah-Anne Munoz sarah-anne.munoz@uhi.ac.uk