"Perceived health impact and usage of public green spaces in Brussels’ metropolitan area during the COVID-19 epidemic"
To fight the COVID-19 virus, many countries implemented containment measures whereby physical distancing became the norm and restrictions on the use of public space were imposed. In countries where access to public green spaces (PGSs) was safeguarded, they were expected to partially counterbalance the negative health outcomes of these containment measures as they offered a unique opportunity to meet others, to break through isolation, and to move, play and relax at a safe distance. Research on PGS-use and its association with health during the COVID-19 epidemic is rather limited and is based on quantitative research methodologies. Quantitative research methodologies are useful to detect associations between PGS-use and health or between COVID-19 and PGS-use but fall short in explaining the observed associations. This qualitative research filled in this gap by examining how PGS-users perceived the health advantages of PGSs and how the use of PGSs changed during the epidemic in the Brussels Capital Region, Belgium. In total, 23 individual face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted in diverse PGSs. We found that while PGSs were initially perceived as a possible threat for health in the first period of the epidemic, they gradually got associated with both improved physical and mental health. Although the mechanisms behind this association were also present prior to the epidemic, they became more tangible and more universal. We also found that the use of PGSs changed during the epidemic due to measures and restrictions and due to health risk perceptions. We distinguished 5 different health risk perception profiles about COVID-19: the denier, the fatalist, the negotiator, the conformer and the anxious. These different health risk perceptions impacted on the use of and behaviour within PGSs.
Charlotte Noël is a sociologist and an anthropologist experienced in qualitative research. She has expertise in doing qualitative research on different sociological topics: child poverty, social work, interdisciplinary networks, network governance, coordination and cooperation, network structure, migration behaviour and migration intentions, living environment and health. Her research interests are are very broad as long as it concerns qualitative research. Her current research focusses on environmental quality and its impact on health and well-being in the Brussels Capital Region. More particularly she is doing research about public perceptions on air pollution and about the perceptions on public green spaces within the Brussels Capital Region.