Evaluation of Military Service Member Preferences of Landscape Design Elements in Therapeutic Gardens

Alicia Thomas, Muntazar Monsur, Carol S. Lindquist, Thayne Montague and Catherine R. Simpson ()
Additional contact information
Alicia Thomas: Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
Muntazar Monsur: Department of Landscape Architecture, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
Carol S. Lindquist: Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
Thayne Montague: Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
Catherine R. Simpson: Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-15

Abstract: Military service members (MSVMs) suffer from mental and physical health ailments upon returning home from enlistment. Due to the enormity of these different and complex ailments, many unique therapeutic methods, like therapeutic gardens, have been utilized on MSVM populations to improve their overall wellbeing. Therapeutic gardens are built following a set of guidelines meant to serve general populations instead of target populations. There has been little research on the preferences of landscape design elements in therapeutic gardens by MSVMs. To determine if landscape design elements can be optimized for therapeutic gardens that serve MSVMs, a series of questions with pictures pertaining to preferences were created in an online survey that was released to civilians on social media and MSVMs through U.S. military organizations (N = 366, 90.6% completed). The average respondents were male, Caucasian, and 25–35 years old. The majority of MSVM respondents were or had enlisted in the Army branch, and were currently active duty, or honorably discharged. MSVMs and civilians had overall similar preferences of utilities and garden elements. While commonalities were found among the two respondent groups, with a preference for clear walkways, lighting wild and natural views, there were differences. In contrast to civilians, MSVMs also overwhelmingly preferred fences and gates, and the creation of privacy and prospect views instead of refuge views. Results indicate that an increased line-of-sight in fenced-in areas may make MSVMs more comfortable in therapeutic garden settings. These differences may assist urban planners and landscapers in the building of green spaces tailored to target populations like MSVMs and to illustrate the importance of building inclusive spaces for populations of concern.

Keywords: military; mental health; urban planning landscape preference; therapeutic gardens (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/5/658/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/13/5/658/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:13:y:2024:i:5:p:658-:d:1392593

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().