# name
BlueHealth: a study programme protocol for mapping and
                quantifying the potential benefits to public health and
                well-being from Europe's blue spaces

# metadata.dc.description.abstract[].value
INTRODUCTION: Proximity and access to water have long been
                central to human culture and accordingly deliver countless
                societal benefits. Over 200 million people live on Europe's
                coastline, and aquatic environments are the top recreational
                destination in the region. In terms of public health,
                interactions with 'blue space' (eg, coasts, rivers, lakes) are
                often considered solely in terms of risk (eg, drowning,
                microbial pollution). Exposure to blue space can, however,
                promote health and well-being and prevent disease, although
                underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. AIMS AND METHODS:
                The BlueHealth project aims to understand the relationships
                between exposure to blue space and health and well-being, to map
                and quantify the public health impacts of changes to both
                natural blue spaces and associated urban infrastructure in
                Europe, and to provide evidence-based information to
                policymakers on how to maximise health benefits associated with
                interventions in and around aquatic environments. To achieve
                these aims, an evidence base will be created through systematic
                reviews, analyses of secondary data sets and analyses of new
                data collected through a bespoke international survey and a wide
                range of community-level interventions. We will also explore how
                to deliver the benefits associated with blue spaces to those
                without direct access through the use of virtual reality.
                Scenarios will be developed that allow the evaluation of health
                impacts in plausible future societal contexts and changing
                environments. BlueHealth will develop key inputs into
                policymaking and land/water-use planning towards more
                salutogenic and sustainable uses of blue space, particularly in
                urban areas. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Throughout the BlueHealth
                project, ethics review and approval are obtained for all
                relevant aspects of the study by the local ethics committees
                prior to any work being initiated and an ethics expert has been
                appointed to the project advisory board. So far, ethical
                approval has been obtained for the BlueHealth International
                Survey and for community-level interventions taking place in
                Spain, Italy and the UK. Engagement of stakeholders, including
                the public, involves citizens in many aspects of the project.
                Results of all individual studies within the BlueHealth project
                will be published with open access. After full anonymisation and
                application of any measures necessary to prevent disclosure,
                data generated in the project will be deposited into open data
                repositories of the partner institutions, in line with a formal
                data management plan. Other knowledge and tools developed in the
                project will be made available via the project website
                (www.bluehealth2020.eu). Project results will ultimately provide
                key inputs to planning and policy relating to blue space,
                further stimulating the integration of environmental and health
                considerations into decision-making, such that blue
                infrastructure is developed across Europe with both public
                health and the environment in mind.

# metadata.dc.relation.isformatof[].value
Reproducció del document publicat a:
                http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016188

# metadata.dc.source[].value
Articles publicats en revistes (ISGlobal)

# metadata.dc.title[].value
BlueHealth: a study programme protocol for mapping and
                quantifying the potential benefits to public health and
                well-being from Europe's blue spaces