Understanding the human health benefits of urban green space across the life course by integrating epidemiological and novel geospatial approaches
department or school: Forestry, Faculty of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Jarvis, Ingrid
issued: 2022-08-03T19:44:41Z
issued: 2022
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Growing research indicates that natural environments – including green and blue spaces – are beneficial for human health. However, evidence gaps remain concerning the health associations with different types of natural environments and forms of human-nature contact, pathways underlying nature-health associations, and health associations across different life stages. To address these gaps, this dissertation examined the relationship between natural environments and human health among residents of Metro Vancouver, Canada. First, a method for estimating and comparing different forms of human-nature contact was developed, specifically access (i.e., living within proximity of a public green space) and exposure (i.e., quantity of natural and non-natural features surrounding residence). Next, these exposure metrics were used to analyze the association between access and exposure to natural environments and self-reported general health, mental health, and common mental disorders among respondents of the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS). The exposure metrics were likewise utilized in analyses investigating the association between exposure to natural environments and early childhood development, as measured by teacher-ratings on the Early Development Instrument (EDI). Finally, underlying pathways of nature-health associations were analyzed by evaluating potential mediation by reductions in traffic-related air pollution and noise. In general, natural environments were positively associated with human health. Nature-health associations varied according to land cover type. Specifically, water and some vegetation types were associated with lower odds of poor self-reported health among respondents of the CCHS, while exposure to tree and grass cover was positively associated with children’s EDI scores. Conversely, exposure to paved surfaces was adversely associated with self-reported health and children’s early development. Furthermore, nature-health associations varied acco…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/82236
note: Understanding the human health benefits of urban green space across the life course by integrating epidemiological and novel geospatial approaches by Ingrid Jarvis B.A., The University of British Columbia, 2012 Hon. B.Sc., The University of British Columbia, 2016 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (Forestry) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) July 2022 © Ingrid Jarvis, 2022 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: Understanding the human health benefits of urban green space across the life course by integrating epidemiological and novel geospatial approaches submitted by Ingrid Jarvis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry Examining Committee: Matilda van den Bosch, Adjunct Professor, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, UBC Co-supervisor Sarah E. Gergel, Professor, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, UBC Co-supervisor Mieke Koehoorn, Professor, School of Population and Public Health, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Mariana Brussoni, Associate Professor, School of Population and Public Health, UBC University Examiner Martino Tran, Associate Professor, School of Community and Regional Planning, UBC University Examiner Additional Supervisory Committee Members: Hind Sbihi, Adjunct Professor, School of Population and Public Health, UBC Supervisory Committee Member iii Abstract Growing research indicates that natural environments – including green and blue spaces – are beneficial for human health. However, evidence gaps remain concerning the health associations with different types of natural environments and forms of human-nature contact, pathways underlying nature-health associations, and health associations across different life stages. To…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2022-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0416552
language: eng
degree discipline: Forestry
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Bosch, Matilda van den
contributor: Gergel, Sarah E.
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/82236