{"title":"A survey on understanding factors that influence accessibility in national and provincial parks for adults with disabilities and caregivers","authors":"Alison Whiting , Yashoda Sharma , Hannah Dudney , Waqas Sajid , Tilak Dutta","doi":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100292","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100292","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Over 8 million Canadians have a disability, and many develop secondary health conditions. Access to nature through national and provincial parks has benefits for wellbeing which can improve the quality of life of people with disabilities and minimize the impacts of related health conditions.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>To facilitate equitable access to parks and park activities, we captured the perspectives of people with disabilities and their caregivers to uncover the factors that influence park accessibility.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We developed a Canada-wide online survey with open and closed-ended questions, which were organized in relation to the four stages of a park visit: (1) planning a trip to the park, (2) traveling to the park, (3) facilities and activities at the park, and (4) feelings post-visit. Closed ended questions were summarized using descriptive statistics and open-ended questions were analyzed using a summative content analysis.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>A total of 210 (136 people with disabilities and 74 caregivers) participants completed this study. We found that four key factors impacted park accessibility: access to information at the planning stage, accessible transportation at the traveling stage, built environment while interacting with park facilities and activities, and inclusivity of the park when reflecting post-visit.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Many barriers to accessing parks still exist for people with disabilities and caregivers. Future research could explore topics such as park information, crowding, implementation of adaptive technologies in parks, and representation of people with disabilities in park governance. Research should consider persons experiencing environmental sensitivities, both vision and hearing loss, and people with hidden disabilities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52616,"journal":{"name":"Wellbeing Space and Society","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100292"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145018968","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Growing closer: Addressing nature disconnection in dementia","authors":"Hoang Nguyen, Cassandra Thomson, Joanna Sun, Pauline Marsh","doi":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100291","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100291","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>While the benefits of nature connection for people with dementia are well known, many with the condition live physically and emotionally disconnected from nature. This metasynthesis aims to explicate the process of building and sustaining nature connection while experiencing the challenges of dementia, in order to offer evidence-based solutions and a pathway to positive change. We analysed and synthesized qualitative findings from 37 studies to develop a theoretical framework that illuminates the central phenomenon of (dis)connection with nature while experiencing dementia. This theoretical framework explicates the influencing factors as well as outcomes of this phenomenon. The framework demonstrates that building and sustaining connection with nature is hindered by intersecting personal and external factors, including physical, cognitive, and emotional changes; availability of resources and support; and environmental barriers. Solutions include facilitating strategies, such as inclusive and individualised nature-based activities, accessible and enabling environments, and effective communication, education, and coordination. Critical positive outcomes from meaningful nature connection include improved physical, cognitive, mental, and emotional health, enhanced social connection, meaningful participation, and caregiver well-being. This theoretical framework has potential to guide policy and inspire support efforts, identifying starting points and avenues for more effective and enabling ways to ensure people with dementia are living well. This paper identifies areas for future investigation into the influencing factors and impacts of nature connection for people with dementia across settings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52616,"journal":{"name":"Wellbeing Space and Society","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100291"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144922164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sybren Slimmen , Olaf Timmermans , Lilian Lechner , Anke Oenema
{"title":"The direct and indirect effects of social environmental factors on student mental wellbeing at different socio-ecological levels: A longitudinal perspective","authors":"Sybren Slimmen , Olaf Timmermans , Lilian Lechner , Anke Oenema","doi":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100294","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100294","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Student mental wellbeing is shaped by social environmental conditions, yet few studies have examined how different levels of the social environment interact to support or hinder mental wellbeing over time. This study applies a socio-ecological perspective to explore how meso-level factors (social cohesion, community integration, and community organizations) are directly and indirectly associated with student mental wellbeing through micro-level relational experiences (social support and social network satisfaction). In addition, the role of individual-level perceptions (reciprocity and social trust) in shaping these social conditions is examined. Data were collected through a two-wave longitudinal survey (<em>N</em> = 384 at T1; <em>N</em> = 207 at T2) among full-time students at a Dutch university of applied sciences. Cross-sectional and longitudinal regression analyses were conducted, alongside parallel mediation models using PROCESS. Results show that meso-level factors are associated with mental wellbeing both directly and indirectly via micro-level mechanisms, particularly through social network satisfaction. Although effects were stronger at T1 than at T2, the findings underscore the importance of multi-level social contexts in understanding student wellbeing. Individual-level perceptions of reciprocity and social trust were associated with students’ perceptions of all social environmental factors at the micro- and meso-level. These findings underscore the importance of cohesive and supportive social environments within educational settings. Interventions at the meso-level—such as enhancing social cohesion and supporting community organizations—may offer both direct and indirect benefits for student mental wellbeing.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52616,"journal":{"name":"Wellbeing Space and Society","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100294"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144931888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Caring with: positioning social support in landscapes of care","authors":"Tess Osborne , Thomas A Lowe , Louise Meijering","doi":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100295","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100295","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Informal caring is often framed as an individualised activity, with support networks positioned as peripheral rather than integral to sustaining care. This paper challenges such framings by theorising social support as a structuring force within landscapes of care, shaping how informal dementia caring is organised, negotiated, and experienced. Drawing on qualitative interviews and graphic elicitation with carers, the study foregrounds ‘caring <em>with</em>’ to explore the co-participatory, distributed, and relational dimensions of caring. While landscapes of care have been widely used to explore how care unfolds across social and spatial contexts, limited attention has been given to how carers themselves are supported within these landscapes. The findings reveal that community actors, such as friends, neighbours, and community networks, not only alleviate carer burden but actively co-produce care, redistributing responsibilities and reconfiguring caring relationships. By centring social support within landscapes of care, this paper calls for a repositioning of social support in studies on care: not as an adjunct to care, but as fundamental to how care itself is sustained and negotiated over time.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52616,"journal":{"name":"Wellbeing Space and Society","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100295"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144913150","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mark Ferguson , Alison Teyhan , Rebecca Lovell , Helen Dodd , Benedict Wheeler , Rosemary McEachan
{"title":"The association between park visits, outdoor play and child social-emotional competency in a multi-ethnic, urban cohort","authors":"Mark Ferguson , Alison Teyhan , Rebecca Lovell , Helen Dodd , Benedict Wheeler , Rosemary McEachan","doi":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100293","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100293","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Increased access to greenspaces and frequent outdoor play has been shown to be associated with improved social-emotional competency (SEC) in children, but this finding may not be generalisable to all communities and contexts. This study undertook a cross-sectional analysis of 2568 children (7.1–12.6 years old; mean 9.8) assessing the association between child-reported outdoor play and park visits, and two aspects of SEC in a sample from Born in Bradford (BiB), a multi-ethnic urban cohort in the UK. SEC was measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) Total Difficulties Score (TDS), and the SDQ prosocial subscale. Increased outdoor play was linearly associated with improved scores in both aspects of SEC; park visits were predominately null or inconsistently associated with SEC. Stratification by ethnicity and area deprivation displayed that associations were generally stronger in the White origin compared to Asian origin populations. However, stratification also showed that different ethnic groups may gain benefits from outdoor play at different times of the week, reflecting different uses of leisure time and cultural practices. There was some evidence that associations were stronger in the least deprived populations compared to the most deprived populations. Outdoor play may be an important contributor to SEC in children; however, effects vary by ethnic origin and area deprivation, showing the association is influenced by factors such as demographics and place. Ensuring children’s environments offer safe, culturally appropriate, local spaces for children to play, and increasing opportunities for children to play outdoors has the potential to improve children’s SEC.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52616,"journal":{"name":"Wellbeing Space and Society","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100293"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144925644","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
María José Cáceres-Titos , María Cabillas-Romero , E. Begoña García-Navarro
{"title":"Health perceptions and lived vulnerabilities of undocumented migrant women living in settlements in southern Spain: An interpretative phenomenological study","authors":"María José Cáceres-Titos , María Cabillas-Romero , E. Begoña García-Navarro","doi":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100290","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100290","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The aim of this study was to explore the experience of residing in a settlement as an undocumented migrant woman from a gender and intersectional perspective, focusing on their health perceptions as well as on living conditions directly related to health. Drawing on an interpretive phenomenological approach, nine semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2023 with African women with undocumented status living in settlements in southern Spain. Participants were recruited through a snowball sampling strategy, and data collection was carried out until discourse saturation was reached. Five superordinate themes were identified: perceptions and beliefs about health; living conditions; insecurity and environmental risks within the settlement; job insecurity and barriers to employment; and difficulties in accessing basic services. This study contributes to advancing health research by incorporating a gender and intersectional perspective that enhances the understanding of migrant women's needs to improve social and healthcare services. It also highlights the urgent need for public policies that address this complex reality through an integrative and gender-sensitive approach.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52616,"journal":{"name":"Wellbeing Space and Society","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100290"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144896446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rural and regional community stakeholder perspectives on dementia, socio-spatial rights and community participation","authors":"Carmela Leone , Rachel Winterton , Irene Blackberry","doi":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100289","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100289","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Dementia-friendly communities (DFC) aim to address the socio-spatial exclusion of people living with dementia and carers. While the rights of people living with dementia and carers are often discussed in relation to DFCs, few are considered genuine rights based environments, and none specifically address socio-spatial rights. This has implications for planning policy and practice in terms of ensuring socio-spatial inclusion, social health and health equity. Drawing on Lefebvre’s (1996) ‘right to the city’ concept, this study aims to identify local government, healthcare organisation and community group perspectives on the rights of people living with dementia and carers to participation in decision-making, inclusion and access to public space and social activities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen representatives of community stakeholder organisations and groups from a large non-metropolitan region in Victoria, Australia. Findings identify that socio-spatial rights are addressed through a personhood approach. The facilitation of socio-spatial rights is impeded by the absence of people living with dementia from participatory processes, as well as stigma, local government priorities, and the lack of dementia awareness, dementia-inclusive legislation and policy, and recognition of dementia as a disability. Dementia education and dementia-inclusive legislation and policies are critical to establishing genuine rights-based DFCs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52616,"journal":{"name":"Wellbeing Space and Society","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100289"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144864675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lesley Gittings , Carmen H. Logie , Miriam Selick , Ayla Lefkowitz
{"title":"Sexual consent education among youth experiencing homeless in Toronto, Canada: findings from an arts-based and qualitative study","authors":"Lesley Gittings , Carmen H. Logie , Miriam Selick , Ayla Lefkowitz","doi":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100287","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100287","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Homeless youth face elevated risks of sexual violence, diminishing their access to sexual-well-being, justice and health. Sexual consent—expressed agreement, capacity and freedom to participate in sexual practices—is fundamental to realising sexual well-being, yet is underexplored with this population. Arts-based approaches are promising for advancing health and well-being, yet gaps exist regarding their role in sexual consent education with homeless youth. This study explores homeless youth experiences of sexual consent and violence, and the potential of arts-based approaches in sexual consent education. We conducted online focus groups and in-depth interviews (2021–2022) with youth who have experienced homelessness, and key informant (KI) interviews with youth workers in Toronto. We explored: a) understandings of sexual consent, b) needs and challenges in sexual consent education, and c) two arts-based sexual consent education approaches (poetry and comics). Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically, informed by the social contextual framework which attends to relational, material, and symbolic contexts. Participants (<em>N</em> = 24) included 17 youth aged 18–29 with homelessness experiences (4 FGs; 5 interviews; mean age 22.57, SD 3.22), and 7 KI (1 FG; 5 interviews; mean age 27.25, SD 5.54). Factors shaping exposure to sexual violence victimization included: relational (in-person and digital sexual spaces, lack of social support), material (insecure housing, poverty) and symbolic (gender, sexual orientation, substance use stigmas) contexts. These create environments where homeless youth experience diminished sexual self-determination, security and safety. Poetry and comics are effective and acceptable when tailored to the realities of homeless youth, and focused on empowerment rather than only technical skills.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52616,"journal":{"name":"Wellbeing Space and Society","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100287"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144779570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Community influences on trust in Swedish healthcare","authors":"Anna Mankell","doi":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100285","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100285","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A lack of trust in healthcare, often stemming from alienation or suspicion toward public institutions, may result in citizens forgoing essential support and treatments to which they are entitled and avoiding participation in preventive measures that benefit society as a whole. While the links between community characteristics and health are well established, this study aims to explore the influence of communities on trust in healthcare. Although trust in healthcare is generally high among the Swedish population, increasing diversity and segregation among neighborhoods make it relevant to examine variations in trust across local communities. Utilizing social capital theory, this study combines survey data from over 13,000 respondents with register data, linking individual data to local community characteristics through multi-level regression analyses. The findings reveal that individuals’ perceptions of their community have a stronger association with healthcare trust than the objective characteristics measured in the study, with community pessimism emerging as a significant factor, particularly for residents with a migrant background. Furthermore, it underscores the importance of understanding and distinguishing between community-level determinants of trust and how they differ between groups. Ultimately, this research will help identify neighborhoods with low healthcare trust and highlight the characteristics that correlate with diminishing trust, guiding targeted interventions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52616,"journal":{"name":"Wellbeing Space and Society","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100285"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144588780","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
K. Soma , P. Verweij , A. Francis , D. van Wonderen
{"title":"Citizens’ support to nature in Aruba—A study on sustainability and wellbeing","authors":"K. Soma , P. Verweij , A. Francis , D. van Wonderen","doi":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100281","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wss.2025.100281","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Islands worldwide comprise about 6.7 % of Earth's land surface area, and are home to about 10 % of the world’s population. In addition, estimates suggest that islands host about 20 % of global areas defined as nature ecosystems. Unfortunately, extinction rates on islands are as high as 95 % of birds, 90 % of reptiles, 69 % of mammals and 68 % of plants. A collapse of biodiversity will threaten human life, health and wellbeing in future. The main aim of this article is to investigate the influence of contextual nature-related and socio-economic factors on subjective wellbeing perceptions among the Aruban inhabitants. A total of 771 residents of Aruba responded to a survey in 2023/2024. The results show that they exhibit very similar patterns in strongly prioritizing nature. Whereas 89 % of Dutch-born inhabitants reported having a very strong or strong connection with nature, this was true for 74 % of Aruba-born inhabitants, and 80 % of the people born elsewhere. Moreover, the results show that for socio-economic factors, the highest risk of wellbeing was reported to be income limitations. Only a share of 36 % of Aruba-born worked in the tourist branch, whereas 55 % of the residents born elsewhere did. Hence, in the relative intensive tourism industry in Aruba, the local communities have relatively low involvement in the tourism sector. Overall, this research contributes to deepening insights into the need for a shift towards a regenerative tourism approach, relying on the involvement and capabilities of local communities to foster sustainability and resilience to achieve the desired Sustainable Development Goals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52616,"journal":{"name":"Wellbeing Space and Society","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100281"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144656201","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}