Abstract
Litter picking as a green social prescription for mental health and wellbeing: A pilot randomised controlled feasibility trialBackground: The rising burden of poor mental health in the U.K. calls for innovation in accessible, affordable, and scalable interventions more than ever before. There is growing interest in utilising green social prescribing to promote population mental health and wellbeing, and as demand increases, expansion and diversification of interventions are needed.
Method: A mixed-methods parallel pilot RCT was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of investigating community litter picking as an intervention candidate. Pilot psychometric wellbeing outcomes were collected at pre, post, and follow-up of a 30- minute group litter picking activity, and qualitative methods explored the acceptability and potential therapeutic mechanisms. Control conditions involved variations of outdoor walking. Descriptive statistics and deductive content analysis were applied.
Results: Eighty-three participants were recruited and n=62 took part in the trial. Follow-up rate was 85% with dropout in control conditions only. Descriptive statistics showed mean pre- to post- improvements for wellbeing, affect, compassion, and community and nature connection for litter picking. Main qualitative findings were outcomes of improved mood and increased connection, and potential mechanisms of pro-social behaviour and social collaboration.
Conclusion: Pilot data showed some promising benefits of community litter picking, even for as little as 30 minutes. A future definitive RCT could be feasible and is recommended to validate the effectiveness and efficacy of litter picking as a therapeutic intervention to improve mental health and wellbeing, with the hope of future prescription more widely.
| Date of Award | 22 Sept 2023 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Elizabeth Marks (Supervisor), Maria Loades (Supervisor) & Vuokko Wallace (Supervisor) |