Abstract
Previous studies have revealed that green space may play a positive role in promoting cardiovascular health. However, this association was explored mainly in the level of overall residents. Given that prevention and rehabilitation efforts aim to reduce cardiovascular disease risk, the difference characteristics of the association between green space and residents in different stages of the life cycle may occur is of particular interest. According to the Family Life Cycle theory, a family usually has four progressive growth stages: from marriage to the formation of the family with children, the growth of the family with children growing up and going to school, the maturity of the family with independent children and career development, the retirement of the husband and the wife to the aging of the family. According to the association of each stage, the law from prevention to rehabilitation effects by the green space may be revealed. Integrating the life cycle stages and identifying the impact characteristics of green space on residents in each stage will help to build a green space that can benefit the prevention and rehabilitation of cardiovascular diseases, and generate health benefits in a long term. In this paper, the theory of Family Life Cycle is introduced, as the basis of group division reflecting residents who have different life styles. In combination with this classification, using data from a large-scaled health survey "Monitoring project of chronic diseases and the risk factors of residents in Heilongjiang Province" in China and the corresponding green space survey, binary logistic regression was used to calculate the impacts of green space on residents in each stage. With the change of family life cycle, the influence of green space showed a trend from strong to weak, and then to strong, and the corresponding influencing factors were also different. Then a green space planning framework was proposed, and corresponding strategies were put forward. The results of the difference analysis can be used to better understand the impacts of green space on the diverse population. The proposal of planning framework and strategies is of importance to link up healthy city research and practice, so as to guide the design and construction of green space that can promote cardiovascular health throughout the whole life. The stages and steps of this study are as follows: Phase 1. Problem formulation (Materials and Methods) Step 1: Object definition Step 2: Development of a conception model Step 3: Selection of research methods Step 4: Research data collection Phase 2. Effects of green space on cardiovascular health of residents in the whole life cycle (Results) Step 5: Calculation of the relationship between green space and cardiovascular health indicators of residents Step 6: Analyze the effects of green space on residents in different stage of life cycle Step 7: Summarizing the green space characteristics that affect cardiovascular health of residents in the whole life cycle Phase 3. Planning framework and strategies (Discussion) Objective 1: develop a green space planning framework to promote cardiovascular health of residents based on the life cycle Objective 2: propose green space planning strategies to promote cardiovascular health of residents based on the life cycle
