Is your garden dementia friendly? An Environmental Assessment Tool for Health and Care Settings

'Is your garden dementia friendly? An Environmental Assessment Tool for Health and Care Settings' is a free to download environmental assessment tool that covers information on access to and use of outdoor spaces for the wellbeing of people living with dementia.

The new gardens tool - by the University of Worcester, Association for Dementia Studies - starts with an introduction to explain the importance of outdoor spaces, some of the principles of dementia friendly design, and an overview of how to use the tool. It proceeds to cover seven key areas. Each area comprises a rationale of why it is relevant to people living with dementia and a series of questions to get you thinking about your outdoor spaces.

The key areas are:

• The environment promotes wellbeing
• The environment promotes meaningful interaction and purposeful activity between people, their families and staff
• The environment encourages engagement with the senses
• The environment promotes connection with nature and the natural world
• The environment promotes orientation and wayfinding
• The environment promotes mobility
• The environment promotes calm, safety and security

The assessment tool concludes with a summary sheet where you can gain an overview of your responses, together with the overarching design principles for gardens and outdoor spaces.