Ecominds-effects-on-mental-wellbeing-evaluation-report

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4 <strong>Ecominds</strong> <strong>effects</strong> on mental wellbeingExecutive summary<strong>Ecominds</strong>In 2007, Mind called for a new green agenda formental health highlighting the growing evidencein support of an accessible, cost-effective andnatural addition to existing treatment options, usingecotherapy interventions. Through the management of<strong>Ecominds</strong> (a £7.5 million Big Lottery Fund supportedopen grant scheme) Mind subsequently funded 130ecotherapy projects ranging from horticultural andagricultural schemes, through to walking groupsand regeneration initiatives in local parks. <strong>Ecominds</strong>has helped 12,071 people living with mental healthproblems to get involved in green activities to improveconfidence, self-esteem, and their physical andmental health.BackgroundOne in four people in England will experience amental health problem in any one year. Mental healthproblems also inflict additional economic and socialcosts and treatment is becoming increasingly moreexpensive. Public spending on mental health servicesis continually rising and in England alone during2009/10 it is estimated that £21.3 billion was spenton mental health services in total, with £1.2 billionon drug prescriptions. The cost of antidepressantshas grown dramatically and between 2010 and 2011,antidepressant drug prescriptions and their costssaw the largest increase of any drug category.Despite these increases, mental health servicesrepresent only 13 per cent of NHS spending, whenmental health problems account for 23 per cent of theburden of disease.There is now more need than ever to exploredifferent preventative and curative therapies to add tothe ‘toolbox’ of treatment options; interventions whichwhile comparable in their success rates, are oftenmore accessible and less costly to employ. The healthof the individual (and family members involved in careprovision) clearly supersedes any financial cost, butif there is a potential solution that could address bothissues simultaneously, then this could significantlyreduce both human costs and public spending.Ecotherapy‘Ecotherapy’ (sometimes called green care),comprises nature-based interventions in a variety ofnatural settings. Ecotherapy initiatives usually consistof a facilitated, specific intervention, for a particularparticipant, rather than simply ‘an experience innature’ for the general public. Ecotherapy approachesare ‘therapeutic’ in nature although some ecotherapyinitiatives also include formal therapy (e.g. counsellingsessions, CBT, psychotherapy etc) as an integral partof the programme.Although the area of ecotherapy is very diverse, thecommon linking ethos is the contact with nature ina facilitated, structured and safe way, where manyvulnerable groups gain therapeutic benefits. Byincreasing participation and awareness, ecotherapyinitiatives have the potential to improve healthand wellbeing for individuals and to significantlyreduce public health costs by encouraging healthiercommunities. Ecotherapy also has the potentialto enable resilience and can help build up anindividual’s capacity to cope with life stresses andhave a preventative effect against future mentalhealth problems.However the majority of GPs do not even considerthe use of ecotherapy as a treatment option formild to moderate depression; and many patientsare not aware that a prescription for an ecotherapyintervention could be an effective treatment for theirillness. In times of burgeoning mental health costs,economic hardship, shrinking budgets (across allsectors) and amidst worries that we are becoming asociety of sedentary and obese people, increasinglydisconnected from nature, can we really afford not topromote ecotherapy as one of the solutions?<strong>Ecominds</strong> wellbeing evaluation -University of EssexMind commissioned the Green Exercise ResearchTeam at the University of Essex to carry out anindependent, academic evaluation of the <strong>Ecominds</strong>scheme to examine the <strong>effects</strong> on psychologicalhealth and wellbeing of beneficiaries. This evaluationfocused on three main themes: i) Wellbeing, ii)
An evaluation for Mind 5Social inclusion and iii) Connection to nature andtwo secondary themes: iv) Healthy lifestyles and v)Environmentally friendly behaviour. The University ofEssex evaluation of <strong>Ecominds</strong> involved an evaluationof the <strong>Ecominds</strong> scheme as a whole and an in-depthevaluation of a sub-sample of nine <strong>Ecominds</strong> projects.The evaluation was questionnaire based and arange of composite questionnaires were developed,composed of a mixture of internationally recognised,standardised questionnaires (WEMWBS, RSES,POMS, CNS) bespoke questions and questions usedin the Big Lottery Fund Changing Spaces evaluation.Key findings• A total of 803 participants took part in the evaluationwith 515 taking part in the ‘All projects’ and 287 inthe ‘In-depth’ studies. In both studies participantswere mainly male (66-69 per cent), predominantly‘White British’ and with an average age of around40 (ages ranged from 14 to 85). Both studiesinvolved a range of different ecotherapy projects,taking a range of different approaches, of differingsizes and in different locations all over England.• Mental wellbeing: In the In-depth study, threestandardised, internationally recognised instrumentswere used to measure different elements of mentalwellbeing. For the majority of participants both theirwellbeing and self esteem scores showed a statisticallysignificant increase from the beginning to the endof their involvement with <strong>Ecominds</strong>, indicating animprovement in participant wellbeing over the durationof the <strong>Ecominds</strong> scheme. On average a participantexperienced increases in wellbeing of 17 per cent andof self esteem of 11 per cent (see Figure A).Figure A. Change in mean participant wellbeing scores fromthe beginning to the end of the <strong>Ecominds</strong> programmeWellbeing score706050403020Represents an increase in wellbeing of 5.3 testedwith a 2-tailed T test (p
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