OVERVIEW “Chilling out?”, Exploring the wellbeing effects of gentle versus rigorous physical activity in or near water (blue spaces). You are invited to take part in a research study about the effects of being in or near water (blue spaces). Before you decide to take part, it is important for you to understand the purpose of the research and what will be involved. Please take the time to read the following information carefully.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY?
The purpose of this present study is to understand the effects that being in or near water (blue spaces) have on mental wellbeing. There is a large body of evidence to show that spending time in nature is good for our mental health, however, there is less evidence about blue spaces. We would like to hear about your experiences of spending time in or near water, doing activities that are familiar to you and exploring the different effects that these have.
WHAT WE WILL ASK YOU TO DO
At the beginning of the programme, you will be asked to choose the blue space activity in which you wish to take part. Please ensure that you choose an activity in which you are experienced and comfortable. There are three activities to choose from: A) Walking with a view of water, such as walking by a lake or coast. B) Exercising immersed in water in a natural environment, such as wild swimming, surfing or bodyboarding. C) Exercising immersed in water in a man-made environment, such as swimming in an indoor swimming pool. Before you take part in your chosen activity, you will be asked to fill in a pre-activity questionnaire that should take around 10 minutes to complete. You will then take part in your chosen activity (walking, outdoor immersion, or swimming in an indoor pool).
After you have finished your activity, you are requested to fill in a post-activity questionnaire as soon as possible, (if you have a smart phone you may wish to use this to allow as brief a time as possible between your activity and your answers). The second questionnaire will be like the first one but will have a few different questions about your experience. Again, it is expected that questionnaire will take around 10 minutes to complete.
DO I HAVE TO TAKE PART?
You have been invited to take part as you have expressed an interest in activities in or near water. We ask that all participants be aged 18 or over and be able to give informed consent.
You do not have to take part and your participation is completely voluntary. You have the right to withdraw at any time up to the point where all the data is fully anonymised. It is possible that you have been recruited as you are known to the researcher, please be assured that if you choose to withdraw this will in no way effect your relationship with the researcher. There is no penalty for withdrawing. You will be sent a debriefing form at the end of your participation, which you may read if you choose.
We hope that you will enjoy your experience of taking part in this research, however, we understand that talking about thoughts and feelings may be uncomfortable at times, please be assured that you need only fill in the questions that are comfortable for you and that you may stop or withdraw at any time. Due to the nature of doing physical activities in or near water during the winter months, there are of course health and safety aspects for you to consider. We ask that you read the Health and Safety Advice that is given after this Information Sheet and that you check the box to state that you understand. Please feel free to ask any questions if you have any queries or concerns about taking part in this project. When you have finished the project, you will be sent a debriefing sheet that will give you further information and will also provide you with contact details for support services and other resources in case you wish to seek support or advice. All data from questionnaires will be anonymised and stored securely on University of Glasgow GDPR-compliant servers that only the research team has access to. This research is in accordance with the British Psychological Society’s code of conduct and your data will be handled and stored in accordance with the UK Data Protection Act.
The results of this study will be analysed and written up by the researcher for their MSc Psychology (conversion) final year dissertation and may be presented at conferences or submitted to academic journals. All data will be anonymised, and no individual will be identified from the data in this study.
CONTACT DETAILS
If you wish to have any further information about this research project or to receive a copy of the final report, please do not hesitate to contact Genevieve Brown at 2607710b@student.gla.ac.uk, or the supervisor of this project: Dr Steve Draper at Steve.Draper@glasgow.ac.uk
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