How can you make the world larger for the elderly in care facilities? And how do you connect such a facility to the neighbourhood? Green can be a key factor, as was demonstrated by the residential care centre Tolsteeg in Utrecht. Here a lush enclosed garden and a fruit and vegetable patch were realised Read More
A safe and warm place where cancer patients and their families feel welcome and can be among themselves; this is what Maggie Keswick Jencks envisioned in 1993. A place where information is given and social support, dietary and exercise advice as well as relaxation therapy are readily available. A place to meet. In 1993 Read More
We all know it’s sound advice: being around nature is good for people. We get our breath of fresh air and clear our head in the outdoors. If we look at historical examples, the health sector used to believe so too. Convents and sanatoriums were all located in natural surroundings. In the past 60 Read More
Nature lovers already know this, but increasingly more research confirms that nature is good for us. Not only does green improve our air quality, productivity and sense of well-being, recent studies indicated that even a virtual natural environment could help reduce emotional stress. This is an interesting new method to investigate the effect of Read More
A healing environment is a way to design (public) areas of health institutions in such a way that the well-being of patients, family and health workers is increased and stress reduced. The objective of a healing environment is to ensure a faster recovery of patients or, if this is impossible, to make sure the Read More
Average life expectancy continues to rise and the large group of baby boomers is starting to reach pensionable age. Vitality is consequently an increasingly important theme, as the longer people are able to live independently, the less the cost of health care is likely to spiral out of control. This also applies for residential care Read More
We spend a large part of our lives in indoor areas. Most people can spend up to 90% of their time indoors. A great deal of attention has been devoted to clean air outside, but the air quality of our indoor spaces can often easily be 5 to 10 times worse than the outside Read More
It’s now hard to imagine the United States without them, the healing gardens, or rather hospital gardens. Their popularity has really taken off in recent years, as there has been a growing amount of evidence that green contributes to the healing process. This is exactly why it’s so strange that Dutch hospitals devote so little Read More
Experiencing nature, touching plants, seeing doves, smelling flowers and recognising familiar things. But safe paths, rubber tiles and things ‘to do’ are certainly also elements which can be used in gardens which have been especially designed for elderly dementia patients. A number of these gardens have now been designed and constructed in the Read More
An increasing number of children are being diagnosed with ADHD. In many cases the complaints are so severe that children are prescribed the Ritalin medication. A medicine with strong side effects and which is also sensitive to addiction. What could help reduce the need for medication? A green environment, or rather plants, appears to be Read More
