The impact of early dementia on outdoor life

Abstract

Duggan, Blackman, Martyr and van Schaik 2 AbstractThis paper reports the voices of twenty-two people with early to moderate dementia and their carers about the use of the outdoor environment. Analysis of semi-structured interviews demonstrates that people with early dementia value the outdoor environment for reasons such as exercise, fresh air, emotional well-being, the opportunity for informal encounters with neighbours and friends and the appreciation of the countryside. Conversely, not being able to go out was associated with depressive feelings. Carers reported that the impact of dementia was to decrease the frequency of outdoor activity and to limit the areas visited to those that were the most familiar. Maintaining outdoor activity is likely to be an effective preventative measure in extending the period of good quality living and might decrease the period when intensive services are required. It should therefore be considered in planning for both residential care and community living in the future.

Care home design for people with dementia: What do people with dementia and their family carers value?

“…As such this reinforces findings that meaningful activities were important to people with dementia in care homes (Hancock, Woods, Challis, & Orrell, 2006;Orrell et al, 2008). Getting out and about, whether this was in the care home building and garden or on structured outings has also been reported previously as an important design feature (Chalfont, 2008) and important to people with dementia (Duggan et al, 2008).…”

“…One woman liked to be able to take the home's dogs out for a little walk, a man liked being able to maintain an interest in gardening by working on the flowerbeds and growing some vegetables, another liked being able to walk right round the whole building. The importance of outdoor space, and easy access to this space has been stressed in the literature (Chalfont, 2008;Duggan et al, 2008), and identified as one of the key areas where improvements in accessibility should be made (Brimelow & Lyons, 2009). This refers not only to gardens and grounds, but to the wider community to which residents want to remain connected.…”

“…Outside spaces can provide a different view on the world and offer places of quiet that can be hard to find inside (Brawley, 2001). Duggan, Blackman, Martyr, and van Schaik (2008) explored the experiences of people with dementia who lived at home of going outside and report strong consensus on the desirability and pleasure of going outside, and the negative effects of not going out regularly. Davis et al (2009) argue that shifting thinking from 'condition' to 'experience' has the potential to facilitate the culture change needed to create environments that allow for active participation in everyday life.…”

Home Alone With Dementia

“…Although many people with dementia hope to maintain an ordinary way of life (Fukushima, Nagahata, Ishibashi, Takahashi, & Moriyama, 2005) and value the outdoor environment (Duggan, Blackman, Martyr, & Van Schaik, 2008), the outside world can become an intimidating place. Duggan et al described a "shrinking world" for people with dementia, a decline in independence as outdoor places such as town centers become "no-go" areas (Duggan et al, 2008). People with dementia can sometimes find themselves in an unfamiliar world when they are outside of their home, and as a result are not able to cope (Phinney & Chesla, 2003).…”

Improving care home design for people with dementia

“…Outside spaces can provide a different view on the world and offer places of quiet that can be hard to find inside. 23 Duggan et al 24 explored the experiences of people with dementia who lived at home of going outside and report strong consensus on the desirability and pleasure of going outside, and the negative effects of not going out regularly. While derived from interviews with people with early to moderate dementia living at home, these findings are likely to resonate with people with dementia living in care homes.…”