The Design of Health Promoting Outdoor Environments for People with Young-Onset Dementia—A Study from a Rehabilitation Garden

Nina Oher (), Jonna Tingberg and Anna Bengtsson
Additional contact information
Nina Oher: Department of People and Society, Faculty of Landscape Architecture, Horticulture and Crop Production Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Alnarp, P.O. Box 190, 234 22 Lomma, Sweden
Jonna Tingberg: Memory Clinic, Skåne University Hospital, 205 02 Malmö, Sweden
Anna Bengtsson: Department of People and Society, Faculty of Landscape Architecture, Horticulture and Crop Production Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Alnarp, P.O. Box 190, 234 22 Lomma, Sweden

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 8, 1-41

Abstract: Health-promoting outdoor environments designed for people living with dementia (PLwD) has proved to be an effective non-pharmacological intervention for treatment of symptoms and improved well-being. However, for individuals with Young-Onset Dementia (YOD), who have particular symptoms and needs, the content and design of these environments are underexplored. This study aimed to explore the needs of individuals with YOD in a garden setting, to generate design-related knowledge for ‘dementia-friendly’ outdoor environments, while contributing to the field of Evidence-Based Design (EBD). An 8-week long nature-based program was carried out in Alnarp’s rehabilitation garden, a specifically developed garden based on research from e.g., landscape architecture, environmental psychology and medical science. The study used a triangulation of qualitative methods including six participants with YOD and a multidisciplinary team of five staff members. Content analysis was used for all gathered data, including 17 semi-structured interviews with participants with YOD and with staff. Data collection and analysis was performed based on the evidence-based Quality Evaluation Tool (QET). The study led to a target group adapted version of the QET for people with YOD containing 20 developed environmental qualities for designers to pursue in therapeutic gardens, including the additional quality of Calmness. A progression was noted, as a result of perceived positive effects during the intervention, indicating possible change and development of the group’s needs and preferences in the outdoors.

Keywords: young-onset dementia (YOD); evidence-based design (EBD); outdoor environment; garden; supportive environment; dementia-friendly environment; health promoting; people living with dementia (PLwD); nature (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/8/1047/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/8/1047/ (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:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:8:p:1047-:d:1452949

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

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