Improve Mood/Increase Feelings of Wellbeing

Zhang and colleagues link specific work activities and energy levels; their findings may be useful to designers developing at-work break/refreshment zones, for example. The Zhang-lead team found “a time allocation effect, such that for a given period of the workday (i.e., the morning or the afternoon), the greater the proportion of time a knowledge worker spent in meetings relative to individual work, the less this person engaged in microbreak activities for replenishment during that period. The reduction in microbreak activities, in turn, harmed energy.

Buckley found that different birdsongs have different effects on our mental health.  Buckley reports that “Mental health benefits of birdsong differ between bird species. . . . Benefits of birdsong for mental health provide an economic argument for conservation of bird species, assemblages and habitats; but we need to quantify the benefits of bird diversity, and of rare relative to abundant bird species. . . .  the benefits of birdsong may depend on particular bird species, e.g. since songs bring memories or emotions. . . . birdsong is not a single homogeneous parameter.”

Hammoud and colleagues identified positive consequences of seeing or hearing birds.  They report that they “used the Urban Mind smartphone application to examine the impact of seeing or hearing birds on self-reported mental wellbeing in real-life contexts. . . . Everyday encounters with birdlife were associated with time-lasting improvements in mental wellbeing. These improvements were evident not only in healthy people but also in those with a diagnosis of depression, the most common mental illness across the world. . . . results . . .

Liu and colleagues conducted a literature review to better understand how people over 60 years old experience virtual nature. They determined that data available indicate “that natural landscapes displayed through virtual reality positively influence the emotions of older adults. Simple scenes such as waterscapes and plants were more applicable virtual interventions for older adults compared with complex scenes.”

Altenburger studied how students experience safety-related design features at their schools.  She shares that her “ethnographic case study examines how a school building designed to promote both student engagement and safety supports school practices that prioritize minimizing risk. . . . Student voices focus on the connotations of a tall fence and alarmed doors that deny the teenagers' access to exterior circulation and social spaces. The author found educators embracing crime prevention through environmental design strategies to enforce a closed campus policy.

Figueiro and Pedler review important issues related to circadian lighting.  They make wellbeing-enhancing suggestions: “Open the window shades in your home or office but be careful to avoid creating glare. . . . When sitting by a window, try to face it. . . . If you cannot work facing a window, add extra table or floor lamps next to your work area.  A do-it-yourself (DIY) circadian lighting device is another option. If you have access to windows, make sure the shades are open and that you are facing the window. . . .

Fjaestad and team’s work confirms that gardening is good for our mental health.  The researchers learned via data they collected from people 46 to 80 years old that “Compared to participants who did not engage in gardening, those who gardened for ≥150 min per week were more likely to report better mental wellbeing . . . and life satisfaction. . . . these effects were stronger for participants aged 64 years and older.

Hyvonen and colleagues studied the relationship between spending time in nature and mental health.  They report that their “research investigated the effects of a nature-based treatment on participants diagnosed with depression. Participants . . . were randomized into nature-based . . . or standard care-only . . . groups. The participants in the nature-based group were offered 12 nature-based sessions once a week in addition to standard care. . . .