One undisputed aspect of the negative effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is that people from all over the United States have turned to parks and recreation centres for a more active outdoor lifestyle and relief from stress and stress of the virus and their families.
While some government agencies initially closed areas of their parks because of health department regulations in the early days of the pandemic. Health experts quickly realized that healthy outdoor activities are not just something that should be allowed and encouraged but is also highly advised for anyone of any age.
Park managers at the local, state, and national levels witnessed unprecedented growth in the number of people who visited trails in parks and across the outdoor areas of their recreation and park
systems. In some instances, an increasing number of visitors overpowered their capacity. For instance, in Maryland, the rangers were forced to close fourteen state parks 292 times by 2020. Park visitors were turned off because they were at capacity in the early morning hours or because the park’s resources could be damaged irreparably by excessive use. Certain national parks, such as Glacier located in Montana and Rocky Mountain in Colorado, have drawn such a large number of visitors that rangers have established timed visitor hours or require reservations to access certain areas of the parks.
Although the disease has brought devastating health and economic burdens to our country, one positive effect is that it has allowed families to spend more time outdoors, particularly visiting local parks and nearby recreation opportunities. The 2021 NRPA Engagement with Parks Survey indicates that 7 of Ten people increased or continued their visits to public gardens and trails throughout the pandemic. During the outbreak, many factors allowed people to spend more time outdoors and explore parks. A few of the elements included in the way that people were spending less of their time메이저놀이터working and spending longer working from home. Also, many school districts switched towards online learning for students, and restrictions were placed on various types of indoor entertainment, resulting in dramatic growth in park visits during the outbreak and increased usage of local parks and play spaces.
Survey of Parents During the Pandemic Shows Vital Importance of Play
In the spring of 2020 the summer of 2020, the International Playground Equipment Manufacturers Association (IPEMA), together with Wakefield Research, conducted a nationwide survey of parents about the benefits of play for children amid the epidemic. This was the third of its highly regarded “Voice of Play” surveys and was focused on the importance parents place on outdoor activities during the outbreak, what places and with whom kids played and what the benefits of playing had been during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tom Norquist, senior vice director of innovation and business development of PlayCore and two-time president of IPEMA He says that the creation of IPEMA the non-profit association created by the industry of play equipment was an attempt to create an independent, third-party agency to ensure that equipment was in line with the industry standards for safety, quality , and endurance. However, IPEMA, Norquist says, was looking to do more than serve manufacturers’ and trade interests. “We established the Voice of Play 메이저놀이터 initiative to identify the benefits of play to society at large and specifically call out the physical, mental and health benefits of play for children,” Norquist clarifies. He explains that a crucial part of The Voice of Play initiative is to encourage inclusion in the design of play and to promote the equality of space for everyone.
In the early days of the pandemic, public agencies were extremely worried regarding “theater hygiene” — cleaning surfaces and fears that the virus could spread by direct contact with hard surfaces; parks agencies across the United States generally closed playgrounds and play areas the general public. The level of parental concern was high, with the IPEMA study results revealing that fifty per cent of parents felt at ease letting their children play on playground equipment in public playgrounds. However, as the epidemiological understanding of the virus grew, restrictions on public access to playgrounds and play equipment were eased, and the playing in gardens significantly increased.
One of the most frequently asked questions regarding how the COVID-19 virus has affected children over the last months is the effect the disease has had on their capacity to play. To better understand the impact on play, it’s important to ask a couple of questions regarding the significance of public playgrounds in the community, particularly in the most vulnerable communities in which there are often fewer chances that children can play in a safe environment.
Playgrounds as Social Determinants of Health
Since the beginning, there has been an enormous research and health professionals in determining the impact that school playgrounds, parks as well as other recreational facilities within communities and in the neighbourhoods of their communities influence the well-being and health of children and, in turn the well-being and health of caregivers and parents as well. The impact of public recreation areas and other elements that are part of our built environments in communities and the development of children are typically included in areas of social factors that affect health.