Workplace barriers to spending time in nature to support staff well-being: A comparative case study

Key metrics of health, including psychosocial well-being, have been steadily declining among adults in the United States for several decades. While many factors contribute to declining well-being, stress is negatively impacting the health of a majority of adults. Work-related stress is of growing concern to employers because it has significant economic implications through employee dissatisfaction, reduced productivity, and lowered emotional and physical health. Research highlights that spending even a short about of time outdoors in nature has significant psychological and physiological benefits, including reduced stress. A majority of US adults are engaged in employment and almost half work for large organizations including institutes of higher education. Promoting the ability of these staff to spend time in natural outdoor environments (NOEs) during their workday can be a relatively low-cost, accessible and equitable intervention that could improve well-being at a population level. However, work-related considerations may be one of the greatest barriers to spending time outdoors. This study utilized the natural experiment provided by workplace shifts resulting from the COVID pandemic to explore patterns in NOE use during the workday of staff at large university in New York State. Staff surveys and focus groups illuminated key work-place barriers to spending time in NOEs. Lack of time to go outdoors, exacerbated by high workloads, inflexible schedules, and negative work culture, was the highest reported barrier. Results highlight changes or improvements in policy, work culture and NOE amenities that could facilitate more time outdoors to improve well-being for staff at large organizations like universities.