Creating better gardens for people with dementia

Helping improve the quality of life for those living with dementia in care settings is the target of Living Through Landscapes, a project between Thrive, Learning Through Landscapes, Groundwork, Age UK and the University of Kent.

Better gardens can help residents feel happier and healthier, improve sleep and appetite, promote long and short-term memory and reduce aggression.

Thrive is using its expertise in this area to help develop online learning to promote dementia-friendly garden design with the aim of transforming the outdoor spaces of 30 care settings around the country.

There are three courses available online:

`Creating Gardens’ is intended for all staff and volunteers who are involved in bringing these innovative designs to life through the build process.

`Values of Gardens’: This module is intended for all of the volunteers and staff involved in the Living through Landscapes project but will also benefit people working in other dementia care settings and anyone with an interest in dementia care including health care practitioners, researchers, people with dementia and their families.

`Design’: The module is intended for designers involved in the Living through Landscapes project. It will also benefit anyone who would like to create gardens and green spaces to promote health and wellbeing for people with dementia.

And a new course `How to use gardens and nature in dementia care settings’ is due to go live shortly.