Design, Landscape, and Health: Volume 5, Issue 4 - InformeDesign

Implications
www.informedesign.umn.edu
Decreasing Stress: The Natural Area and the
Meditative Area
The viewing of nature is universally associated
with decreased stress and a sense of psychological
restoration. A natural area provides a place for
small groups to view an area planted in a more
natural form. The plantings are loosely arranged
but clumped to create visual impact. Plants that attract
wildlife were prioritized as they would increase
the sense of wilderness that the site is intended to
impart.
The meditative area also functions to decrease arousal
and stress. Meditative states are associated with
positive physiological states of lowered blood pressure,
pulse, and circulating stress hormones. A water
feature was designed to enhance this state by providing
a focus, positive distraction, and screening out intrusive
visual and auditory stimuli. Conifer plantings
were designed to provide a quiet and restful complement
to the space. Their density would create a calm,
enclosed space to facilitate a meditative experience.
The garden walkway.
Exercise: The Garden Walkway
Exercise is associated with relaxation and induces a
relaxation response. The site was designed to encourage
walking within the site and positive distraction.
The walkways are circular in layout to provide easy
wayfinding for those residents who may suffer from
dementia. The garden walkway plantings were selected
to be bold and colorful, to stimulate the senses
in a positive way, and to encourage movement to
see what lies ahead. The plantings were designed for
four season interest, shade and respite, and sheltered
views to the street for “people watching.”
3. Determining the Effectiveness of the Design
The therapeutic garden can be evaluated through
several disease-specific, biological markers of disease
activity (such as viral loads and CD4 counts), and
measures of mental health status, social functioning,
and quality of life. Additionally, it may be useful to
ascertain which areas of the garden are frequented
most often by residents to determine if certain spatial
qualities prove more successful than others in
accomplishing the goals of the design. The hypothesis
is that the installation of the garden will lead to
an improvement in medical, psychiatric, and social
indicators among the residents. Measurements of
these health indicators should be made before and
after installation of the garden to determine what effect,
if any, the garden has upon the health of the
residents.
Toward a New Paradigm of Therapeutic Gardens
As the interest in the field of therapeutic gardens continues
to expand, system for research must be developed.
The chairs of the American Society of Landscape
Architects (ASLA) Therapeutic Garden Design
Professional Interest Group have stated:
We propose a renewed effort to encourage academic
research that is useful to practitioners, and to provide
publicity for the new research to get the word out. Research
is important to validate intuition and to motivate
policy change...We need research approaches that
address current problems.
These same sentiments are echoed throughout the
literature and writings of landscape architects interested
in this field. And yet, there appears to be little
progress in the answer to these calls.
Where Research Informs Design®