The authors' study, and this book, was prompted after seeing many designed care and dementia gardens fall out of use once the initial novelty of a new garden had worn off, this is clearly not what was intended by any designer. But creating well-being, sensory and dementia friendly gardens in care homes and other organisational environments is both rewarding and challenging. This book guides garden designers to work alongside their care clients to create well used gardens that benefit residents long after the designer has left.
Their research set out to answer the deceptively simple question of ‘what makes care gardens actively used’ and their findings shocked and challenged them; here they share their own journey and through many illuminative case studies show how this can be applied by others working in this field.
The authors' research identified a correlation between care homes practicing more advanced, person-centred, care with greater engagement outside. This handbook guides the reader through a range of stages to better support Care Settings, and other organisation’s, by applying a 'Relationship-Centred Design' approach to design delivery. This ensures the organisational culture is understood and incorporated into all stages of a design's workflow.
The handbook provides a detailed yet easy to use Care Culture Banding tool, identifying the current organisational 'care culture' influencing engagement through a range of simple questions to ask, areas to investigate and then recommends on the most beneficial support to provide at this stage.
Real-life stories illuminate this thought-provoking book bringing to life how to ensure gardens are meaningfully developed and used, and with particular reference to people living with dementia. It guides the reader into the impact of the wider care organisation’s practices, the people who work there as well as the residents who live there. This book should be in the toolbox for all garden designers working with care, or other institutional, settings providing guidance from the first contact with a client right through to implementation of any garden changes.
The authors' aim with this book is to support the continuing development of best practices for Garden Designers that is aligned with, and supportive of, the care sectors requirement to deliver person-centred care.
This book compliments their earlier published 'Care Culture Map and Handbook' which supports care settings on a culture change journey to improved care practices and greater engagement outside and is part of the 'Why don't we go into the garden?' series of books and tools. The two publications support the necessary changes in practices to both parties, carers and designer, in creating a new garden setting the groundwork for a garden that is actively used long term and benefits the residents who live there.
