Resources

Resources for Park and Recreation Professionals

With help from our members and research partners, we make the following resources and tools available to equip parks and recreation departments, municipalities, urban design and landscape architecture firms, and advocacy organizations to enhance capacity and build equitable, healthy, and engaged communities.

  • Report

    The Relationship Between Greenspace Exposure and Telomere Length in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

    Science of The Total Environment

    Living near green space could reduce a person’s biological age by 2.2-2.6 years, but can't offset the effects of discrimination and pollution.

  • Report

    Neighborhood Greenspace and Neighborhood Income Associated with White Matter Grade Worsening: Cardiovascular Health Study

    Alzheimer’s & Dementia/ University of Miami Miller School of Medicine's Comprehensive Center for Brain Health

    A new study finds low income levels and a lack of green spaces are among the factors that can harm brain health.

  • Report

    Ecology for Health: Design Guidance for Fostering Human Health and Biodiversity in Cities

    San Francisco Estuary Institute

    This document provides science-based guidance for designing urban spaces that foster both human health and urban biodiversity.

  • Report

    Resilient Cities at the Intersection of Climate and Health

    Resilient Cities Network and Yale University

    2023 survey of city leaders to identify priorities in climate and health, capacity and existing infrastructure, and opportunities for collaboration.

  • Report

    Associations of Greenness, Parks, and Blue Space With Neurodegenerative Disease Hospitalizations Among Older US Adults

    JAMA Network Open

    A study of Medicare beneficiaries suggests that nature may also help protect against the risk of developing certain neurodegenerative disorders.

  • Case Study

    Inequalities in urban greenness and epigenetic aging: Different associations by race and neighborhood socioeconomic status

    Science Advances

    This research article studies the association between exposure to greenness and epigenetic aging in a large, biracial U.S. urban cohort.

  • Report

    2022 Outdoor Participation Trends Report

    Outdoor Foundation

    This research study examines interest in outdoor recreation after the COVID pandemic disruption.

  • Report

    The Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Report

    City Parks Alliance

    This report highlights the physical, mental, and environmental benefits that city parks provide and demonstrates how funds from the LWCF’s Outdoor Recreation L…

  • Report

    Cross-sectional associations of different types of nature exposure with psychotropic, antihypertensive and asthma medication

    Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare

    In this cross-sectional study, a higher frequency of green space exposure is thought to be beneficial for human health.

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