While gardening is seen, essentially, as a leisure activity it has also been suggested that the cultivation of a garden plot offers a simple way of harnessing the healing power of nature (The therapeutic garden, Bantam Press, London, 2000). One implication of this is that gardens and gardening activity may offer a key site of comfort and a vital opportunity for an individual's emotional, physical and spiritual renewal. Understanding the extent to which this supposition may be grounded in evidence underpins this paper. In particular, we examine how communal gardening activity on allotments might contribute to the maintenance of health and well being amongst older people. Drawing on recently completed research in northern England, we examine firstly the importance of the wider landscape and the domestic garden in the lives of older people. We then turn our attention to gardening activity on allotments. Based on the findings of our study, we illustrate the sense of achievement, satisfaction and aesthetic pleasure that older people can gain from their gardening activity. However, while older people continue to enjoy the pursuit of gardening, the physical shortcomings attached to the aging process means they may increasingly require support to do so. Communal gardening on allotment sites, we maintain, creates inclusionary spaces in which older people benefit from gardening activity in a mutually supportive environment that combats social isolation and contributes to the development of their social networks. By enhancing the quality of life and emotional well being of older people, we maintain that communal gardening sites offer one practical way in which it may be possible to develop a 'therapeutic landscape'.

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In the United Kingdom, one in five of the population is an older man, many of whom live alone. Loneliness and social isolation is a growing issue for many of these older men, one that has been associated with elevated blood pressure, poor physical health, increased mortality and mental ill-health, including depression, suicide and dementia. Lone dwelling and social isolation have tended to be viewed largely as issues affecting older women due to their greater life expectancy (LE), but the LE gap between men and women is closing, presenting new challenges for the health and wellbeing of older men. This is not unique to the United Kingdom. Yet whilst inclusionary social spaces and supportive social ties can be important for enhancing physical and mental wellbeing amongst older people, evidence suggests that lone-dwelling older men can experience greater difficulty in accessing effective social support, relative to older women. Understanding those spaces of communal activity that are likely to be successful in promoting health and wellbeing amongst older men is thus important if we are to improve their quality of life. In this paper, we draw on research with a ‘Men in Sheds’ pilot programme in the United Kingdom, to illustrate how everyday spaces within local communities might be designed to both promote and maintain the health and wellbeing of older men. In doing so, we aim to offer insights into how Sheds, as created and gendered spaces, may not only engage older men in ways that help to maintain their perceived health and wellbeing, but also provide sites within which older men can perform and reaffirm their masculinity.

The phenomenon of the 'illness narrative' is well-documented, in the last 25 years, of increasing interest to researchers in health and social sciences. Personal stories about the experience of facing the end of life also have an established history of particular relevance for palliative care clinicians. In this article, we review and describe a range of narrative analysis approaches that may be of use in palliative care. In particular, we distinguish between qualitative analysis applied to narratives and narrative analysis as a method. We discuss the potential benefits and challenges in the use of narrative research methods as a means to deepen our understanding of patient, carer and health professionals' experience, and to support improvements in end of life care policy and practice.