Green Health and Resilience in Rural Communities

Green health uses the natural environment to support physical, social and mental health, offering a range of activities that can be tailored to different needs and abilities. Spending time outdoors and engaging with nature can improve physical activity levels, reduce stress, enhance mental well-being, and foster social connections. Green Health Partnerships (GHPs) are examples of initiatives by health and social care providers bringing together health, social care, environment, leisure, sport, and active travel sectors to promote green health. As such green health has much to offer the support and care for people with different care needs in remote and rural communities by using the natural environment to promote health and wellbeing, and ultimately the resilience of rural communities.

The goal of this special issue is to explore and advance the use of Green Health approaches in rural communities. Specifically, we aim to highlight best practices and approaches to involving regional stakeholders in the design, implementation, and evaluation of Green Health approaches, with a focus on participatory, co-design, and other collaborative approaches to research and practice, and regional development.

We welcome the submission of any type of manuscript supported by the journal (including Original Research, Review, etc.) addressing the needs of different populations, eg older people, people with complex care needs, and on a range of topics related to Green Health. These topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- The design and implementation of participatory, co-design, or other collaborative approaches to research and practice development in Green Health, including methods to identify and prioritize the needs and preferences of rural communities.
- The role of patient and public involvement (PPI) and other stakeholder partnerships in the development and evaluation of Green Health initiatives including the evaluation of PPI approaches and their impact on intervention/initiative design and outcomes.
- Strategies to engage and support family members and vulnerable groups in the co-design and evaluation of Green Health interventions, including best practices in recruitment, training, and building capacity.
- The evaluation of the impact of stakeholder engagement on the acceptability, feasibility, effectiveness, and sustainability of Green Health research and interventions.
- Ethical and practical considerations in the use of participatory and co-design approaches to Green Health research, practice and regional development.
- Suitable theoretically sound frameworks to inform and guide the engagement of those who are the intended beneficiaries of the research that intends to enhance their lives.