Evaluating the effect of therapeutic gardens

Abstract

Sometimes the visitors to therapeutic gardens do not necessarily experience the garden the way the designers intended. A postoccupancy evaluation (POE) can reveal discrepancies between the designer's intentions and use of the environment by the actual visitors. A POE is a user-oriented assessment that elicits the opinions of the visitors to a building, facility, or environment. This paper describes a POE of therapeutic gardens at a multilevel care facility for the aged. The population included patients at various stages of Alzheimer's disease progression.

Domestic residence to multi-storey building. The lived experience of hospital grounds in Melbourne before World War II

“…There remains a failure to consider ways of humanizing the environment by hospital administrators through provision of even small outdoor spaces, activities and importantly, policy changes that promote and facilitate use of outdoor areas for staff and patients (Heath, 2004;Westphal, 2000a). At the center of the failure of hospitals to provide more welcoming environments is a changed cultural understanding of the role of landscape in health despite the research and advocacy for humane medical settings.…”

“…Several researchers have questioned the integrity of hospital gardens, arguing that despite apparent support for humanizing hospital environments by designers and hospital bureaucrats, contemporary hospital gardens are tokenistic (Adams, 2007;Curtis, Gesler, Fabian, Francis and Priebe, 2007;Heath, 2004;Westphal, 2000a). An analysis of the ways outdoor grounds were used and experienced from a period in which hospital gardens were de rigeur provides insights which can contribute to the design and use of meaningful places for staff, patients and visitors.…”

Unités spécifiques Alzheimer en EHPAD et prise en charge des troubles sévères du comportement: réflexion sur les critères de définition et missions

“…Les jardins thérapeu-tiques peuvent être également une des solutions proposées. Ils peuvent avoir un effet stimulant sur l'orientation (heure, saison), mais aussi sur la pratique de l'exercice physique [165] et répondent aux besoins de déambulation.…”

“…Il faut donc souligner l'intérêt de l'accès à un jardin ou à une terrasse thérapeutique sécurisée [166], en accès libre [165] et direct par le lieu de vie. Le jardin ou la terrasse doivent être sécurisés.…”

Gardening and dementia

“…Use of a therapeutic garden for patients with dementia has also been discussed (Heath, 2004). Since physical and intellectual activities in midlife may protect against the development of AD (Friedland et al, 2001), it has been suggested that gardening may be one component of a healthy aging programme to prevent dementia, through stimulation of the mind (Dowd and Davidhizar, 2003).…”