The impact of outdoor environments on health and well-being of residents in long-term care facilities: A review of the literature

This capstone project entails a literature review focusing on the influence of outdoor nature settings on health and well-being for residents in long-term care facilities. This review identifies key evidence-based benefits and barriers to garden use for residents and design guidelines for outdoor spaces in the empirical and descriptive literature. In recent years, there is a growing recognition of the importance to shift from the medical model-of-care to a holistic person-centered care approach. Well-designed outdoor environments can play an important role in creation of a person-centered care environment. Empirical evidence supports a wide range of health and well-being benefits from nature environment exposure. These include improvements to residents’ agitation, stress, depression, pain, psychosocial well-being, sleep and circadian rhythm, attention restoration, social interaction, independence, sense of purpose, wandering behaviour, reminiscence, and sensory stimulation.