Dementia Awareness Month

Sep 2

Written By

With the arrival of Spring coinciding with Dementia Awareness Month, it’s a great time to consider the benefits of healing gardens for people living with dementia. Gardens and outdoor environments provide opportunities for everyone to relax and enjoy; however, healing gardens can also be designed to promote recovery in specific groups - for example, people living with dementia.There are many forms of dementia, however typical symptoms include loss of memory, frustration and confusion. In later stages, this can progress to social withdrawal and increased difficulty with physical activities such as walking, sitting and swallowing. While there is no cure for dementia, specifically designed healing gardens can:

provide stimulation and promote social interaction,
reduce stress,
increase activity levels, promoting endurance, mobility, flexibility, and strength,
aid sufferers in reminiscing, and
provide a meaningful activity.

This improves the quality of life not only for people living with dementia, but their families and carers as well.For more information on designing functional, aesthetic dementia gardens, keep an eye out for the release of our upcoming ebook detailing the benefits of healing gardens for dementia patients.September 2017 is Dementia Awareness Month. For more information visit https://www.fightdementia.org.au/ Sources and further reading:Alzheimer’s Association www.alz.orgAlzheimer’s Australia https://www.fightdementia.org.au/Dementia Behaviour Management Advisory Service http://dbmas.org.au/uploads/resources/101796_ALZA_Garden32pp_LR.pdfKaplan, S (1995), The restorative benefits of nature: Toward and integrativeFramework, Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15, 169-182