Research « Therapeutic Landscapes Network

New article by Clare Cooper Marcus on Healing Gardens

October 27, 2008 | by Naomi Sachs

Here’s a new article written by my colleague, friend, and mentor Clare Cooper Marcus, who serves on the board of the Therapeutic Landscapes Resource Center and is Professor Emerita at the Departments of Landscape Architecture and Architecture at the University of California Berkeley. Click HERE to link to the article in Contact Magazine (“Trends: Healing Gardens,” in Contract Magazine, 10/06/08).

If you’re new to the subject of “healing gardens,” this is a good introductory article with some pithy points about where we’re at now as well as where we came from and where this all might be going. Clare touches on many key issues, such as qualities that make a successful healing garden, patient-specific gardens (gardens constructed with evidence-based design (EBD), where research on specific populations is used to design gardens that have the most benefit for that population).

And if you’re an old hand at this growing and exciting field, you may want to read this thoughtful article anyway; Clare articulates many of the talking points that we get asked on a day-to-day basis about “what it is that we do.”

More Useful Research on Landscapes for Health

October 23, 2008 | by Naomi Sachs

The articles from InformeDesign have been coming fast and furious (they send weekly research summaries), so instead of listing each one separately, I’m listing three at a time today (as always, click on the colored words to connect to the links):

1. Nature Improves Concentration for Children with ADHD: “Children with Attention Deficit Concentrate Better After Walk in the Park, ” by Andrea Faber Taylor and Frances E. Kuo, 2008. ” Get those kids outside! I’m sure Richard Louv and the Children and Nature Network are happy with this one. In fact, their blog points to a New York Times article about the study, which is definitely worth a look: “A ‘Dose of Nature’ for Attention Problems,” by Tara Parker-Pope for the New York Times (10/17/08).

2. Legible Neighborhoods and Dementia: “Dementia-Friendly Cities: Designing Intelligible Neighborhoods for Life,” by Lynn Mitchell, Elizabeth Burton, and Shibu Raman, 2004. While the article talks about wayfinding and legibility outside of nursing homes and CCRCs (Continuing Care Retirement Communities), many of the same points could be used for designing any environment for people with dementia, even gardens and other outdoor spaces.

3. Designing Parks to Serve Poor Communities: “Parks as Mirrors of Community: Design Discourse and Community Hopes for Parks in East St. Louis,” by Laura Lawson, 2007. This goes back to yesterday’s blog, about the TKF Foundation’s work, only this time in Missouri.

New Study: Childhood Memories and Environmental Stewardship

October 20, 2008 | by Naomi Sachs

This just in from InformeDesign, one of my favorite sources for information about Landscapes for Health (along with a ton of other good stuff): A new study by Louise Chawla at the University of Colorado, “Childhood Experiences Associated with Care for the Natural World: A Theoretical Framework for Empirical Results,” (2007).

You can get the low-down by clicking here (you may need to log in to InformeDesign, I’m not sure – it’s free, though, so if you’re a research hound, do it now!). Here’s a teaser…

This referenced position paper analyzed why childhood experiences of caring for nature and interacting with role models who are attentive to the environment influence environmental stewardship in adulthood.

Previous studies have shown that positive childhood experiences caring for nature influence environmental stewardship in adulthood. The reasons these experiences lead to environmentalism has not been thoroughly investigated.
Free play in natural environments with a variety of features (e.g., puddles, mud) provides limitless first-hand learning experiences (Reed, 1996) that encourage continued interaction with nature, teach children about how nature works, and demonstrate the human capacity to impact nature.

Evidence-Based Design: Definition and Discussion

October 1, 2008 | by Naomi Sachs

The Center for Health Design is at the forefront of getting people to think and talk seriously about “evidence-based design,” which they define as “the process of basing decisions about the built environment on credible research to achieve the best possible outcomes.” In other words, designing places (buildings, gardens, and other spaces) for specific uses and specific populations based not just on one’s intuition or innate design sense, but on solid research. This becomes especially important when designing for people whose health and well-being is compromised, such as in hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care facilities.

Here’s an interesting blog posting from the CHD about this definition, with some great comments and discussion.

What do you think? Is this definition sufficient? What would you add, or how would you change it?

New Article from InformeDesign’s Newsletter

September 25, 2008 | by Naomi Sachs

Quan Yin Statue at the Huntington Garden’s

Liu Fang Yuan, The Garden of Flowering Fragrance, Los Angeles, CA

Photo by Naomi Sachs

A new article from InformeDesign‘s latest issue of Implications, by Jeff Rosenfeld, Ph.D., “Senior Housing Globalized,” discusses changes, trends, and recent developments in senior housing in China, Japan, India, and elsewhere in the Pacific Rim.

The article includes some great images and discussion of outdoor spaces in senior housing, a useful bibliography, and even a list of related research summaries.

Wrote a Thesis? Part II

August 29, 2008 | by Naomi Sachs

Back in March, I put a call out to graduates requesting theses that I could list on the TLD References page. I’ve gotten a few responses, and have found a couple of my own in my travels as well. These, as well as some of the abstracts, can be found in alphabetical order on the TLD References page, along with previously-listed theses. Additions to this list are always welcome!

Hebert, Bonnie B. (2003). “Design Guidelines of a Therapeutic Garden for Autistic Children.” Master of Landscape Architecture Thesis for Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College.

Click here or on the title above to link to a pdf of the thesis.

Kovary, Myra M. (1999). “Healing Landscapes: Design Guidelines for Mental Health Facilities.” Master of Landscape Architecture Thesis, Cornell University.

A similar version of Kovary’s thesis was published with the same title as Chapter 12 of Shoemaker, Candice A. (Ed.) (2002). Interaction by Design: Bringing People and Plants Together for Health and Well-Being. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State Press.

If you’d like an electronic copy of this thesis, contact the author: mmk29@cornell.edu.

Lindemuth, Amy (2006). “SOU Courtyard Garden: Designing a Therapeutic Environment for Corrections Staff and Mentally Ill Offenders.” Master of Landscape Architecture Thesis, University of Washington 2006.

This is a design thesis and includes design of a real site at a prison in WA state with literature and historical review.

Roets, Susan (2006). “Healthcare and Landscape Architecture: Investigation and Design at an Assisted Living Home to Promote Healthy Aging.” Master of Landscape Architecture Thesis, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY.

Click here or on the title above to link to a pdf of the thesis.

Sadler, Charles King (2007). “Design Guidelines for Effective Hospice Gardens Using Japanese Garden Principles.” Master of Landscape Architecture Thesis, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY.

Click here or on the title above to link to a pdf of the thesis.

Vapaa, Annalisa Gartman (2002). “Healing Gardens: Creating Places for Restoration, Meditation, and Sanctuary. What are the defining characteristics that make a healing garden?” Master of Landscape Architecture Thesis for Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Click here or on the title above to link to a pdf of the thesis..

What’s the Difference? Real Nature vs. Views of Nature vs. Pictures of Nature

August 9, 2008 | by Naomi Sachs

One of Henry Domke’s recent blog postings got me thinking again about this question of the experience of nature–real nature vs. views of real nature from a window (as was the case with Roger Ulrich’s 1984 “View From a Window” study*), vs. the view of an image of nature, which Ulrich and others have also studied. Each has proven, quantitatively and qualitatively (or empirically and anecdotally) to be beneficial, and more beneficial than, say, looking at a brick wall or being inside of a cubicle all day long, but how do they differ? Is there a hierarchy in terms of positive outcomes?

My guess would be that the most benefits would be derived from a person actually being outside, as the Kaplans would probably argue; that the second-most effective option would be a real view of nature, as was the case with Ulrich’s study; and that pictures of nature, while perhaps not as effective as being in nature or viewing real nature out the window, are an effective in concert with the first two, or if the first two are not possible (see here and here for a couple of good articles on pictures of nature).

But we need more research to really find out. Of course, there are also the finer questions within this question about what kind of nature, what kind of views out the window, what kinds of pictures of nature…if anyone knows of some good studies that have already been done, please do send them my way and I will highlight them on the blog and on the Therapeutic Landscapes Database.

*Ulrich, Roger S. (1984). “View Through a Window May Influence Recovery from Surgery.” Science, Vol. 224, No. 4647, April 27, pp. 420-421.

Hot Off the Press: Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture 07-08

August 7, 2008 | by Naomi Sachs

Once again, The Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture, published by AHTA, has come out with an excellent publication chock-full of good information (they don’t have an online version yet, but that’s in the works for the future). Kudos to Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth R. Messer Diehl for all of her hard and good work. I’ve been more involved with the American Horticultural Therapy Association (AHTA) since joining the editorial review board last year, and I have to say, I think all landscape architects interested in designing Landscapes for Health should also be members of AHTA. They’ve really got their act together, and as with the Center for Health Design and the Environmental Research Design Association (EDRA), there is a lot of crossover for designers.

Here are some of the articles in this year’s Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture:

“Effect of Horticultural Therapy on Preventing the Decline of Mental Abilities of Patients with Alzheimer’s Type Dementia,” by Sonia J. D’Andrea, Mitchell Batavia, and Nicole Sasson

“Affordances of Ward and Garden in the Restorative Process of Hospitalized Children,” by Ismail Said and Mohd Sarofil Abu Bakar

“The Psychosocial Benefits of Exposure to Natural Settings in Long-Term Care: An Evaluation of the Wellness Garden Program at Glacier Hills Retirement Community,” by Suzanne Perry Slavens

“The Use of Therapeutic Horticulture in Cancer Support,” by Sheila B. Taft

“Development of Assessment Standards and a Computerized Assessment Tool for Use in Prevocational Horticulture Training Programs for Head-Injured Individuals,” by P.N. Williams, C. Kissel Bales, T.M. Waliczek, and J.M. Zajicek

AHTA Annual Conference Abstracts: “Harvesting Best Practices in Horticultural Therapy.”

While some of these articles are more specific to Hort Therapy, many are also useful to designers in helping to answer questions about what types of spaces are most appropriate for the populations that we serve.

I Demand Satisfaction! The Role of Nature in Job Satisfaction

June 24, 2008 | by Naomi Sachs

Photo by Naomi Sachs

Not the dueling kind, but the kind that involves psychological well-being.

The next time you need a reason for investing in a garden, or windows that look out onto an interesting view, or even some indoor plants, you can cite this new study which has linked job satisfaction to views of live plants or windows:

“Individuals working in spaces with live interior plants or window views have significantly higher levels of job satisfaction than people who work in spaces without live plants or windows: “Findings indicated that individuals who worked in offices with plants and windows reported that they felt better about their job and the work they performed. This study also provided evidence that those employees who worked in offices that had plants or windows reported higher overall quality-of-life scores.” Live plants in an office, even without the window views, lead to more positive psychological states.”

Andrea Dravigne, Tina Waliczek, R. Lineberger, and J. Zajicek. 2008. “The Effect of Live Plants and Window Views of Green Spaces on Employee Perceptions of Job Satisfaction.” HortScience, vol. 43, p. 279.

I found this study listed on Research Design Connections, an excellent resource for anyone in the design and healthcare fields.

This is the view out my office door, so I have no excuses for not loving my work!