Description
People need to be active to regain their health as well as to remain healthy. This credo applies to all stages of life, including for the age group of senior citizens. For a long time, this fundamental need seems to have been neglected, whether for economic reasons or lack of awareness. That the design of outdoor spaces should take into account the needs of older people is therefore a relatively recent realisation, and one that has been rapidly fuelled by the increasing number of senior citizens and the accompanying debate on a better quality of life in old age.
As mobility and responsiveness begin to deteriorate and hearing and sight become impaired, the relevance of the quality of one’s living environment, of which outdoor spaces are undoubtedly a part, increases accordingly. The spatial and structural qualities of one’s local surroundings are crucial factors in our ability to lead independent lives in old age. Personal mobility and social participation are important conditions for the well-being of all people, old people included. Despite the fact that the need for ongoing care increases with age, the greater majority of elderly people would prefer to live in their home environment. The design of residential environments appropriate to the needs of the elderly therefore requires adequate solutions that address these needs and enable old people to live independent lives on their own terms.
It is generally agreed that the availability and quality of outdoor activities has a determining effect on the behaviour of old people. Where elderly people suffer from cognitive restrictions and a reduced ability to establish social contacts with other people, these deficits will be exacerbated by an unfavourable design of outdoor spaces. Instead, better local conditions can stimulate greater activity and contribute to the physical and mental constitution of old people. In the USA in particular, the therapeutic effect of green spaces has been researched and documented. A growing number of older people with a reduced radius of activity make use of public gardens and green areas in their immediate locality to benefit their health. Outside of one’s own living space, gardens are by far the most popular place to be.
Carefully planned gardens and recreation areas can significantly influence people’s choices for a particular housing complex or care facility. Moving into a nursing home, for example, is almost always associated with a loss of one’s private sphere and sadness at leaving behind one’s familiar environment. Attractive green amenities can help divert people’s attention from the sadness and pain that accompanies the period of settling-in to a new environment, and in some cases compensate for this entirely.
Clear functionality, a humane scale, a rich variety of activities and a stimulating selection of colours are guiding principles in the design of outdoor spaces, with the overall aim of creating an uplifting and enlivening environment for the visitor. A key aspect is not so much the size of a green area – whether a balcony, private garden, courtyard garden or park – as the variety of experiences it offers. This can be achieved through the provision of spaces of differing qualities and their respective design. Independent of the size of the site, the green area should provide a variety of spatial experiences. Expansive views of open spaces are complemented by protective enclosures. References to individual typical aspects of the landscape, such as the edge of woodlands, meadows or expanses of water create a richness of atmosphere and awaken associations.
It is not by chance that going for walks is one of the most popular outdoor activities among older people. Movement promotes mobility and a sense of well-being. Outdoor spaces for the elderly should consist of a large contiguous open space made accessible via pathways or promenades in the form of a closed network of paths. As the degree of mobility among old people can vary greatly, tangents allow people to take longer or shorter routes. Seating areas arranged within sight of each other offer people with restricted mobility a series of safe havens. Views into the distance, over a clearing or across lawns should also be complemented by more secluded areas. Accordingly, gardens should provide small private zones, niches in the shade with a bench, gazebos or pavilions, places for contemplation or peaceful observation. Sitting and watching from a protected corner is for older people often an important manner of participating in public life and offers an opportunity to come into contact with others.
Outdoor spaces are particularly attractive for older people when they are easy to reach and offer plenty of orientation. Views from indoors onto outdoor spaces serve as enticements, tempting one to go outside and enjoy the garden. Seating areas that are visible from afar, for example arranged around a water feature or embedded amid colourful decorative plants, serve as a welcome invitation. Furthermore, green spaces are especially well-loved when they are always there, changing with the seasons and times of day.
From the point of view of planning and construction, the first thing to avoid is steps or thresholds that inhibit or even prevent old people from getting around. Additionally, people of all ages appreciate being able to use gardens without fear of being accosted, bothered or having an accident. Such worries can act as invisible barriers that prevent people from visiting gardens. Views onto surrounding buildings or bustling activity nearby can help create a sense of security. It is also advisable to mark the boundaries of a garden with some form of spatial closure. This can be achieved by natural means, for example planting and shrubbery, or with taller and more explicit elements such as hedges or fences. Close proximity to a toilet is a further aspect that alleviates worries about going outside, not just for old people. A further factor that contributes to a sense of security is sufficient public lighting, in particular when public gardens are crossed late in the evening or at night.
Garden users with a greater need for security are in general more dependent on clear signals that aid orientation. A uniform surfacing for the main pathways – for example a gravelled asphalt surface – can help lend people a sense of certainty in finding their way around the park by providing a visual as well as a tactile response. Likewise, unhindered views of a landmark of some kind on the site can help provide orientation, whether it is a characteristic group of trees, a work of art or a distinctive element of a building. Such items serves as signals and can help reassure people, particularly those with perceptive deficiencies, that they have not lost their way.
Our senses serve as our bridge to the world. Older people generally have plenty of time to explore the subtleties of perception or to rediscover these: observing, listening, smelling, tasting – and remembering. The importance of engaging the senses in the design of outdoor spaces for the elderly cannot be emphasised enough. As people grow older, many lose some of their sensory faculties. Hearing and vision are often the first to suffer, later sometimes the sense of smell and acuteness of taste. Similarly, the spectrum of our perception can shift: colours such as yellow and red generally remain as strong as ever but others may lose some of their brilliance. Here, the provision of a broad palette of sensory stimulants can help compensate for individual sensory deficiencies. The targeted use of planting offers one of the best means of achieving this. Design elements made of wood, water and stone also contribute to the sensory diversity of green outdoor spaces.
The closer one comes to plants, the more they stimulate the senses. When plants can be reached and touched, even older people with restricted mobility or sight can be encouraged to undertake gardening. Raised planting areas, such as table-height planting, planted wall copings, raised beds and planting boxes allow people to come into direct contact with natural plants, lending a garden an additional therapeutic quality. Even greater gardening comfort is afforded by raised beds which are open underneath for wheelchair access.
The element of water enriches any garden. Fountains or water features are a popular attraction for eyes as well as ears. The sound of burbling water can mask out other less desirable sounds in the wider surroundings and has a calming effect, as does watching the movement of water.
The design of gardens for people suffering from dementia is a particular challenge, as it involves more than just compensating for limited perception or mobility. The primary symptoms of the illness include a loss of memory, disorientation and a state of confusion. These can be accompanied by restlessness, depression, aggression, hyperactivity or anxiety. The design of gardens for use by dementia sufferers should first and foremost provide a peaceful and protective atmosphere. Dementia sufferers find intrusive environmental conditions of all kinds – noise, cold, heat and glare – harder to deal with and sometimes they are too much to cope with. At the same time, stimulating elements also play an important role.
People with dementia do not necessarily suffer from physical impairments, so it is important that they are able to move around freely as much as possible. Sufficient opportunities to go outside and move around also help maintain the normal rhythm of day and night, which for many dementia sufferers is imbalanced. Special attention should also be paid to the inclination of dementia patients to wander around, the positive effects of which are now well-known: it improves circulation and contributes to reducing stress and to reinforcing a sense of autonomy. For this reason, gardens for dementia sufferers should also offer sufficient possibilities for wandering around in the form of a self-contained system of pathways.
A further challenge is to contain with positive means the tendency of residents to wander off, i.e. without making them feel shut in. Restrictions can quickly lead to frustration and aggression among dementia patients. To avoid this, fencing enclosures should be made as invisible as possible or concealed using natural means such as planting or hedges.
Gardens designed for dementia sufferers should also provide additional stimulus for activities that they can undertake on their own. Many people identify with traditional plants and practical gardening equipment from their active past. These can bring back memories and animate residents to pick up even long forgotten activities in the garden. Caring for plants and harvesting fruit also helps reinforce a sense of identity with their surroundings and, through association with the resident’s earlier lifetime, can arouse positive sentiments.
Similarly contact with animals can enrich the lives of dementia patients. While they are often no longer able to care for a pet themselves, they are able to communicate with them emotionally. Such interaction diverts attention from their everyday difficulties and helps them identify with their surroundings. At the same time the proportion of comparatively active senior citizens, for whom sport is an everyday part of life, is increasing in our society. Accordingly, areas for ball games and physical exercise, a swimming pond, table-tennis table or appropriate fitness equipment are ways of catering for the active needs of such “young senior citizens”.
Outdoor spaces for older people should not be misunderstood as a solution exclusively for this particular generation. Although the creation of environments tailored to the needs of older people is extremely important for their quality of life, it runs the risk – even when unintentional – of stigmatising and discriminating those it wishes to help. Garden visitors may be made to feel that they are no longer part of the world at large, creating the impression that they have been closed off in comfortable surroundings so as to be out of the way.
Older people seek interaction and contact with each other as well as with younger generations. As with anyone, they also want to feel noticed and respected – and gardens offer perfect opportunities for this. While the design of outdoor spaces for use by the elderly must take into account their specific requirements, this can already be achieved through the implementation of barrier-free design principles. The realisation of the barrier-free design of our living environment can foster an integrative approach that encompasses all generations and with it an awareness that the removal of barriers benefits all members of society. The terms “universal design” or “design for all” have come to represent this approach. The former term is anchored in the United Nations Charter for Human Rights and formulates the right of every individual to have access to an environment of useful, intuitive and safe-to-use things and spaces. The principles of universal design – applied to the design of outdoor spaces – allow all of us, old and young, with and without impairments, comfortable life in our environment on our own terms.
Originally published in: Eckhard Feddersen, Insa Lüdtke, Living for the Elderly: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2011.