Natural England has a new report: Is it Nice Outside? which presents research into dementia and the natural environment. The report is the result of a collaborative project with Dementia Adventure, the Mental Health Foundation and Innovations in Dementia. Here is the press release which accompanies the report.
The report highlights the following:
- Engaging in activities and being with other people is an important motivator for people living with dementia to use the outdoors
- Informal walking outdoors was the most frequent activity and was also seen as vitally important by carers for its calming effect.
- Wildlife or bird watching is one of the most popular activities for people living with dementia.
- The most popular places to visit for people with dementia were associated with water, such as lakes, rivers or the coastline.
- Only 20% of the people living with dementia considered that their condition was a barrier to using outdoor spaces
- Many local outdoor spaces are underused by people with dementia because of eg: insufficient information about what places have to offer and their suitability for visitors with dementia; and insufficient support on site to use facilities and to participate in outdoor activities.
Its recommendations are:
- Managers of outdoor spaces should work with local dementia action alliances to develop local directories of dementia-friendly open spaces.
- The principles of ‘dementia friendly communities‘ should be implemented on outdoor sites by training staff to be dementia aware, including training on how to sensitively and effectively support people living with dementia
- Training is needed to improve understanding of what facilities and activities and information people living with dementia need to make a visit to the countryside possible.
These practise-based recommendations should go some way (if implemented) to improve experiences outdoors, and it strikes me how similar they are to recommendations for people whose mental health, more generally, isn't what it might be.
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