The Impact of a Dementia-Friendly Garden Design on People With Dementia in a Residential Aged Care Facility: A Case Study

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Motealleh, Parinaz
Moyle, Wendy
Jones, Cindy
Dupre, Karine
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2021
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Abstract

Background: There is a paucity of evidence on the efficacy of garden design based on dementia-friendly environment (DFE) characteristics on the level of agitation, apathy, and engagement of people with dementia in residential aged care facilities (RACFs). Objective: To investigate the effect of a garden improved according to DFE characteristics on agitation, apathy, and engagement of people with dementia in one RACF. Methods: A case study design with a mixed-method approach was used. Results: There was no significant improvement in the level of participants’ agitation following visits to the improved garden, χ2(2) = 5.167, p =.076. A high level of engagement was found in participants during the intervention (Week 1-1, p <.01; Week 1-2, p <.01; Week 2, p <.01; Week 3, p <.05; and Week 4, p <.05) when compared to before intervention (Week 0). A higher level of apathy was found in participants at Week 0 when compared to during the intervention (Week 1-1, p <.05; Week 1-2, p <.01; Week 2, p <.05; Week 3, p <.01; and Week 4, p <.01). Five themes emerged from participant interviews: the presence of sensory-provoking elements in the garden, meaningful engagement in the garden, accessibility of the garden, garden impacts, and garden experiences that demonstrated the effectiveness of the garden. Conclusions: The garden promoted engagement and decreased apathy of people with dementia living in the RACF with the researcher’s partial facilitation of the intervention sessions. The qualitative findings indicated the effectiveness of the garden in reducing agitation.

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HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal

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Subject

Built environment and design

Health sciences

Health services and systems

Science & Technology

Life Sciences & Biomedicine

Public, Environmental & Occupational Health

dementia-friendly environment

garden

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Motealleh, P; Moyle, W; Jones, C; Dupre, K, The Impact of a Dementia-Friendly Garden Design on People With Dementia in a Residential Aged Care Facility: A Case Study, HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 2021

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