Many people living with dementia have limited access to outdoor spaces.
They have a higher potential for falls and injury. Most experience confusion, anxiety, loneliness and depression.
To reduce these feelings, people with dementia need to stay physically active to maintain general health
Many people living with dementia have limited access to outdoor spaces.
They have a higher potential for falls and injury. Most experience confusion, anxiety, loneliness and depression.
To reduce these feelings, people with dementia need to stay physically active to maintain general health and wellbeing and also have regular access to the outdoors.
Included in the research paper by Alzheimer’s Australia NSW ;
Physical activity is a broad term that includes any body movement that works the muscles and expends energy. It includes incidental movement and activities such as household chores and gardening.
Many structured exercise programs for people with dementia are held in indoor venues. Where possible, programs should be held outdoors, to ensure that people with dementia reap the additional benefits of fresh air and vitamin D, which many older people, particularly those living in RACFs, are deficient in. Time outside may also have a subsequent impact on their circadian rhythm which can lead to better quality sleep.
If programs are not able to be conducted outside, attempts should be made to ensure participants can see green spaces and sky to simulate the effect of being outside.
Such ‘green exercise’ is important for well-being and can benefit people with dementia. 
Many residents of aged care homes, particularly those who may have been active within their community and also keen gardeners in their previous homes, would find access to outdoor spaces and participation in gardening activities most beneficial to their overall wellbeing.
For people in dementia care and also for those in the early stages of dementia who access support through respite and home care, a gardening program can easily be incorporated into lifestyle programs.
Improvements from gardening are physical, phycological, cognitive and social. Gardening also provides access to the environment and fresh food grown.
A therapeutic garden.
When creating a garden suitable for people with dementia