Wholistic Design in Dementia Care

Abstract

Abstract Interdisciplinary evidence suggests that nature has a therapeutic role to play in dementia care, but designing a person's connection to nature within residential environments lacks a wholistic approach. This paper argues for design integration of nature into dementia care that is interdisciplinary and evidence-based, but one that is also informed by the daily acts of dwelling. To that end it proposes PLANET, a comprehensive checklist for investigating the potential for connection to nature for people living in dementia care environments. A brief review of the supporting literature on the benefits of nature is presented leading to the theoretical design and a description of the six domains: Person, Location, Architecture, Nature, Energy and Technology. Evidence is presented from people with dementia using nature in edge spaces of buildings to demonstrate the person-centered approach to the ongoing development of the tool.