De Hoge Born verbindt: kwaliteiten en effecten van zorgboerderij De Hoge Born

De Hoge Born blijkt voor zorgvragers een plek te zijn 'waar je mag zijn wie je bent', waar 'je jezelf met je problemen leert accepteren' en 'zelfvertrouwen en eigenwaarde ontwikkelt'. Dit legt een basis voor hun verdere ontwikkeling. Bij de meeste zorgvragers die langere tijd zijn gevolgd met het monitoringsinstrument werden betrouwbare positieve veranderingen vastgestel

Green Care: a Conceptual Framework. A Report of the Working Group on the Health Benefits of Green Care

‘Green Care’ is a range of activities that promotes physical and mental health and well-being through contact with nature. It utilises farms, gardens and other outdoor spaces as a therapeutic intervention for vulnerable adults and children. Green care includes care farming, therapeutic horticulture, animal assisted therapy and other nature-based approaches. These are now the subject of investigation by researchers from many different countries across the world

Assessing the impact of care farms on quality of life and offending: a pilot study among probation service users in England

OBJECTIVES: To assess the feasibility of conducting a cost-effectiveness study of using care farms (CFs) to improve quality of life and reduce reoffending among offenders undertaking community orders (COs). To pilot questionnaires to assess quality of life, connection to nature, lifestyle behaviours, health and social-care use. To assess recruitment and retention at 6 months and feasibility of data linkage to Police National Computer (PNC) reconvictions data and data held by probation services. DESIGN: Pilot study using questionnaires to assess quality of life, individually linked to police and probation data. SETTING: The pilot study was conducted in three probation service regions in England. Each site included a CF and at least one comparator CO project. CFs are working farms used with a range of clients, including offenders, for therapeutic purposes. The three CFs included one aquaponics and horticulture social enterprise, a religious charity focusing on horticulture and a family-run cattle farm. Comparator projects included sorting secondhand clothes and activities to address alcohol misuse and anger management. PARTICIPANTS: We recruited 134 adults (over 18) serving COs in England, 29% female. RESULTS: 52% of participants completed follow-up questionnaires. Privatisation of UK probation trusts in 2014 negatively impacted on recruitment and retention. Linkage to PNC data was a more successful means of follow-up, with 90% consenting to access their probation and PNC data. Collection of health and social-care costs and quality-adjusted life year derivation were feasible. Propensity score adjustment provided a viable comparison method despite differences between comparators. We found worse health and higher reoffending risk among CF participants due to allocation of challenging offenders to CFs, making risk of reoffending a confounder. CONCLUSIONS: Recruitment would be feasible in a more stable probation environment. Follow-up was challenging; however, assessing reconvictions from PNC data is feasible and a potential primary outcome for future studies

Multiple-day temperature settings on the basis of the assimilate balance: a simulation study

Temperature control on the basis of a crop¿s physiology offers advantages over a control that avoids strong climate fluctuations. The assimilate balance, defined as the ratio between the supply of and demand for assimilates, enables a radiation-dependent temperature regulation. The INTKAM crop growth model and KASPRO greenhouse model were coupled, and were combined with an optimization module to evaluate the potential of this regulation. The simulation study resulted for cucumber in all growing seasons in production increase or reduced energy consumption. Annual figures were 5.25 m3 m-2 gas reduction or 4.4 kg m-2 production increase. The underlying mechanisms include a more stable and greater dry matter partitioning to the fruits, and more stable fruit size, length and age

Temperatuurstrategieën in geconditioneerde kassen: Effecten op groei, ontwikkeling en onderliggende processen bij tomaat

In de jaren 2003 tot 2007 is het aantal bedrijven waarop (semi)gesloten geteeld wordt geleidelijk toegenomen. Op alle bedrijven bleken echter vragen te bestaan over de reacties van het gewas op het nieuwe klimaat. Daarom is in 2008 door Wageningen UR Glastuinbouw een onderzoek gestart naar de groei van tomaat in geconditioneerde kassen, waarin veel aandacht wordt besteed aan de fysiologische processen in de plant. Het onderzoek wordt gefinancierd vanuit het programma Kas als Energiebron door Productschap Tuinbouw en het ministerie van EL&I en wordt begeleid door een aantal tomatentelers en een adviseur. Het onderzoek dat in dit rapport wordt beschreven had als centrale vragen hoe verschillende temperatuurstrategieën de processen in de plant beïnvloeden en hoe CO2 in de kas efficiënt benut kan worden

Balansen voor substraat in de champignonteelt. Metingen per laag en in de tijd

Een groot aantal metingen uit de glastuinbouw zijn toegepast in combinatie met in de champignonteelt bekende metingen. Dit is gerealiseerd in een experiment in een teeltcel van Unifarm te Wageningen. De dataset leverde informatie over de opzet van de metingen, teeltbalansen en de benutting van organsiche voedingsstoffen. Uit de compost komt per vierkante meter 2.5 kg.m-2 koolstof vrij en er wordt 2.7 kg.m-2 koolstof afgevoerd als respectievelijk koolzuurgas (1.5 kg.m-2) en geoogste champignon (1.2 kg.m-2). De aanvoer van water uit de compost bedraagt 53 l.m-2 en de afvoer via ventilatie en champignons is 53 l.m-2. De aanvoer is opgebouwd uit watergift, vochtverlies compost en verbrandingswater (respectievelijk 37, 12 en 4 l.m-2). De afvoer is onderverdeeld in ventilatie-afvoer en afvoer in de champignons (respectievelijk 23 en 30 l.m-2). De energiebalans laat zien dat uit de compost 77 MJ.m-2 vrijkomt en dat 60 MJ.m-2 wordt afgevoerd in waterdamp. De minerale voedingsbalans toont een levering uit compost van 16 mol.m-2 en een afvoer in champignon van 12 mol.m-2. De benutting van de organische stof wordt niet meer zoals gebruikelijk uitgedrukt op (de veranderlijke) hoeveelheid droge stof, maar in absolute hoeveelheid per vierkante meter teeltbed. Zo blijkt dat de benutting van hemicellulose practisch 100% is en de benutting van cellulose 40%. Dit betekend dat de benutting van compost alleen verbeterd kan worden door de te verteren fracties te verhogen, niet door de compost zonder meer te hergebruiken Many measurements from horticulture and mushroom growing were combined in an experiment at Unifarm in Wageningen. The data gave much information on appropriate measurements, on mass and energy balances and on the efficiency of using the various organic fractions. Compost delivers 2.5 kg.m-2 of carbon and releases 2.7 kg.m-2 carbon in the form of carbon dioxide (1.5 kg.m-2) and harvested mushrooms (1.2 kg.m-2). Water released from the substrate is 53 l.m-2 while the amount ventilated and found in mushrooms is 53 l.m-2. The supply is split into water supplied, loss from compost and digestive water (respectively 37, 12 and 4 l.m-2). The output is ventilation and water in fresh mushrooms (respectively 23 and 30 l.m-2). The energy balance shows a combustion energy of 77 MJ.m-2 for compost digested and 60 MJ.m-2 tyrapped in water vapour. 16 mol.m-2 of minerals disappear from the compost of which 12 mol.m-2 are found back in the mushrooms. The fractions in the organic nutrition are no longer expressed as a fraction of the dry matter as dry matter is changing over time by digestion. Instead data are reported in absolute quantities per square meter of bed. Thus it is shown the amount of hemicellulosis is almost totally digested wheras just 40% of the cellulose is digested. Thus the efficiency of compost use can be increased by adding digestable fractions but not by re use without addition

Diffuus licht bij tomaat

Onderzoek naar de effecten van diffuus licht op glastuinbouwgewassen wijst uit dat het de groei en vooral de productie bevordert. Voor de tuinder is het van belang het juiste glas te kiezen, met een zo klein mogelijk lichtverlies in de wintermaanden, maar met de maximale voordelen in de voorjaars-, zomer en herfstmaanden. Bij Wageningen UR in Bleiswijk is een teelt met tomaat, Komeett uitgevoerd onder drie typen diffuus glas en standaard tuinbouwglas dat in de zomermaanden voorzien was van een coating van ReduFuse

Verticale temperatuurgradiënten in geconditioneerde kassen: Effecten op groei, ontwikkeling en onderliggende processen bij tomaat

In de jaren 2003 tot 2007 is het aantal bedrijven waarop (semi)gesloten geteeld wordt geleidelijk toegenomen. Op alle bedrijven bleken echter vragen te bestaan over de reacties van het gewas op het nieuwe klimaat. Daarom is in 2008 door Wageningen UR Glastuinbouw een onderzoek gestart naar de groei van tomaat in geconditioneerde kassen, waarin veel aandacht wordt besteed aan de fysiologische processen in de plant. Het onderzoek wordt gefinancierd vanuit het programma Kas als Energiebron door Productschap Tuinbouw en het ministerie van EL&I en wordt begeleid door een aantal tomatentelers en een adviseur. Het onderzoek dat in dit rapport wordt beschreven had als centrale vraag hoe een verticale temperatuurgradiënt de processen in de plant beïnvloedt

Impact and cost-effectiveness of care farms on health and well-being of offenders on probation: a pilot study

Background Care farms (CFs), in which all or part of the farm is used for therapeutic purposes, show potential for improving well-being for disadvantaged groups. We assessed the feasibility of determining the cost-effectiveness of CFs in improving quality of life compared with comparator sites among probationers undertaking community orders (COs). Objectives (1) To conduct a systematic review of CF impacts and mechanisms in improving health and logic model development; (2) to inform future studies by estimating differences in quality of life and other outcomes, identifying factors driving CO allocation and ways to maximise recruitment and follow-up; and (3) to assess feasibility of cost-effectiveness analysis. Review methods A mixed-methods synthesis following Campbell Collaboration guidelines. Pilot study: three probation service regions in England, each with a CF and a comparator CO site. Participants were adult offenders (aged ≥ 18 years) serving COs. The primary outcome was quality of life [as measured via the Clinical Outcome in Routine Evaluation–Outcome Measure (CORE-OM)]. Other outcomes were health behaviours, mental well-being, connectedness to nature and reconvictions. Data sources In November 2014, we searched 22 health, education, environmental, criminal justice and social science electronic databases, databases of grey literature and care farming websites across Europe. There were no language restrictions. A full list of databases searched is given in Appendix 1; some examples include Web of Science, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (via EBSCOhost), The Campbell Library, Criminal Justice Abstracts (via EBSCOhost), MEDLINE (via Ovid) and Scopus (Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, the Netherlands). Results Our systematic review identified 1659 articles: 14 qualitative, 12 quantitative and one mixed-methods study. Small sample sizes and poor design meant that all were rated as being at a high risk of bias. Components of CFs that potentially improve health are being in a group, the role of the farmer and meaningful work, and interaction with animals. There was a lack of quantitative evidence indicating that CFs improve quality of life and there was weak evidence of improved mental health, self-efficacy, self-esteem, affect and mood. In the pilot study we recruited 134 respondents, and only 21 declined; 37% were allocated to three CFs and the remainder to comparators. This was below our recruitment target of 300. Recruitment proved challenging as a result of the changes in probation (probation trusts were disbanded in 2014) and closure of one CF. We found significant differences between CFs and comparator users: those at CFs were more likely to be male, smokers, substance users, at higher risk of reoffending (a confounder) and have more missing CORE-OM questions. Despite these differences, the use of propensity analysis facilitated comparison. Participants consented to our team accessing, and we were able to link, probation and police reconviction data for 90% of respondents. We gained follow-up questionnaire data from 52% of respondents, including health and social care use cost data. We transformed CORE-OM into CORE-6D, allowing derivation of quality-adjusted life-years. As a pilot, our study was not powered to identify significant differences in outcomes. Qualitatively, we observed that within COs, CFs can be formally recognised as rehabilitative but in practice can be seen as punitive. Limitations Changes in probation presented many challenges that limited recruitment and collection of cost data. Conclusions Recruitment is likely to be feasible in a more stable probation environment. Retention among probationers is challenging but assessing reconvictions from existing data is feasible. We found worse health and risk of reoffending among offenders at CFs, reflecting the use of CFs by probation to manage challenging offenders. Future work A sufficiently powered natural experiment is feasible and of value. Using reconvictions (from police data) as a primary outcome is one solution to challenges with retention. Propensity analysis provides a viable method for comparison despite differences in participants at CFs and comparator sites. However, future work is dependent on stability and support for CFs within probation services. Study registration This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42014013892 and SW2013–04 (the Campbell Collaboration). Funding details The National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research programme