Wellbeing-bonus
Share-with care delivers real wellbeing benefits
Wellbeing has proved to be a significant persuader
During the Pandemic the term ‘wellbeing’ took on a very real meaning for many more people. And it became a personal objective for many of us too.
At the self-same time greenspaces came to be seen by the public as valuable reservoirs of Nature. So they became more important to people because they were recognised as somewhere each of us could go to improve our wellbeing.
Share-with care seized on this growing appreciation as a way of leveraging more considerate behaviour by site visitors. It did this by providing them with more understanding of the Wellbeing phenomena and its benefits. These we call the ‘Wellbeing-bonus’.
But that ‘Wellbeing-bonus’ would not be available if dogs were let loose around a greenspace.
This long history of loose dogs is the essence of the problem we have in trying to persuade dog walkers to be more considerate. And this is the reason why the vital task of putting dogs on leads is such a tough ask. For this request to be successful, dog walkers need to be given a strong reason for conforming.
This is where the Wellbeing-bonus comes in. Our bodies are still governed by our hunter-gatherer history. For millennia, just to survive, we had to be alert to Nature. So even today, when we meet wildlife and we see and hear animals, or encounter the aromas of flowers or woodland, our bodies instinctively react positively to these stimuli. Because, with each encounter, a variety of substances are being automatically released into us, benefitting our bodies in many ways. And that is the source of the ‘Wellbeing-bonus’.
By teaching visitors about this benefit, the ambassadors have been able to change people’s behaviour – for the better.
Just by talking to visitors, individually, or groups of people at events we call Wellbeing-gigs, people can be ‘re-minded’ of the effects of Nature and so can be encouraged to become more considerate. And then even reluctant dog owners will, if grudgingly, put their dogs on leads.