“Biophilia”-inspired design keeping more seniors close to nature by Ilyse Veron in March 8, 2019 in Top Story Jacqueline “Jacquie” Horvath used to tend the plants in the greenhouse at her senior living community in Bethesda, Maryland. A long-time gardener, it always made her happy to have her fingers in the dirt. “Plants are the most healing thing you can have around,” Horvath observes with a Carolina lilt. “They make you feel good,” she says. But the job of moving heavy plants became difficult for Horvath, who is 91. Luckily, she has a new way to stay close to nature.  Now she enjoys lunching with friends, nestled in live greenery at the Wintergarden atrium at Fox Hill. The Wintergarden, decorated with ficus trees and a “living wall” of green plants, is an example of a new trend in senior living design to fulfill biophilia, our innate attraction to nature, by bringing the outdoors in. The practice is already popular in office buildings, as well as hospitals and schools seeking to enhance productivity and a sense of wellness while showcasing environmental responsibility. David M.W. Denton, general manager at Fox Hill, says the project fulfills a vision of bringing the outdoors in and “enjoying the benefits of nature year-round.” Biophilia — Love the living Biophilia is an approach to architecture that literally means “love the living.” It has roots in 6000-year old Chinese Feng Shui. Exposure to natural light, plants and the natural world can improve concentration and decrease stress and irritability, research shows. But many seniors spend less time outdoors, whether they live at home or in long-term care communities. “Just because we age, we should not lose contact with nature,” says Jack Carman, a landscape architect based in Medford, NJ who creates therapeutic gardens and outdoor environments for senior living communities. Building professionals report they expect to include more biophilic design principles over the next five years in a range of projects, along with other healthy features such as improving air quality and natural sunlight exposure, according to Stephanie Timm, senior director of Delos Insights, which provides research to real estate developers, builders and architects. A vertical garden at Fox Hill (Ilyse Veron) Timm  runs a “Wellbeing and Design” committee that meets monthly at the District Architecture Center in Washington DC, where architects and others share how they are using natural elements, such as skylights, ornamental grasses, or sounds like waterfalls or birds chirping, to promote feelings of wellness indoors. It’s a trend that more families and seniors are looking for when shopping for senior living, says architect Andrew  Coelho, senior vice president of construction, facilities and design at Sunrise Senior Living, which operates more than 325 communities. “We’re getting more and more questions about, ‘how sustainable and healthy is it?’” he says. In choosing a senior residence, people think about care, training, cost, how pretty and comfortable the residence is and its reputation,  Coelho says. Sunrise is spending more energy in investigating and providing well environments for their residents. “Good senior living design is about putting the resident’s wellness first…We are always thinking about how to keep people active for as long as possible mentally and physically.” While only a fraction of senior facilities gets involved with such elaborate planting, even trends in paint colors show a greater propensity to include natural elements. Green shades are becoming more popular, says Dee Schlotter, senior color marketing manager of PPG paint brand. “Whether it be in plant or paint form, greens are essential, as they have the ability to reduce activity within the central nervous system and evoke a calm feeling,” she says. A new “building WELL” certification focuses on how design, policy and operations contribute to occupants’ comfort and health. It stems from LEED certification – which focuses on energy efficiency.  The certification is being billed by Xue Ya, president of the International Well Building Institute Asia as the only global certification proven to address the relationship between buildings and health. The Institute’s research describes how WELL strategies can promote the health of the human body, including its cardiovascular, immune, and respiratory systems. Right now a handful of luxury senior residences in the United States are seeking to achieve “WELL” status. A good business incentive? Industry data show these investments in natural colors and green elements can offer senior residences a competitive edge. Only 11 out of every 100 seniors (80+) live in senior housing, according to industry analyst Larry Rouvelas. Senior living communities are working hard to compete as more seniors choose to age in place. On a sunny day the windows of resort-like Fox Hill reflect the trees inside and out. There was no certification ten years ago when Fox Hill was built. “We were just trying to do things that were good – offering plenty of daylight, easy access in and out, big windows and outdoor sensory gardens,”  Coelho says. Fox Hill’s choice to plant tall ficus trees on moveable casters indoors where there’s ample light alters the aesthetic environment and also adds oxygen to the air with the plants. On a recent afternoon, Horvath made herself at home in the leafy restaurant. “Moving these trees inside is the best thing you ever did,“ she told Denton. Republished from: https://news.memorywell.com/2019/03/04/designing-senior-living-to-promote-nature-and-wellbeing/

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Meadowood Senior Living in Worcester, Pennsylvania, envisioned a transformation of the retirement community’s central courtyard. Design for Generations, LLC from Medford, New Jersey, and Eric’s Nursery and Garden Center out of Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, designed and developed a resort-style outdoor space that is striking in its beauty and engaging in its varied features and amenities.

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Summer budgets can be a bit tight for many people and organizations. Even with that reality, you can experience a garden of abundance this season. With a bit of planning you will, as the saying goes, reap what you sow.

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Leverage the coincidence that the reawakening of your garden occurs during the month in which Earth Day falls. Typically when we make decisions regarding our therapeutic landscape gardens we weigh the impact on the people we serve; we also have the unique opportunity to positively impact the environment, in a way that involves our core mission of providing support and engagement to those we provide care for. As you plan your spring garden, implement these three changes: Create a bee-friendly garden. Doing so attracts bees, which are crucial pollinators of up to one-third of the food that people eat. Plant flowering fruits (strawberries), flowering vegetables (tomatoes, zucchini) and single-petal flowers (Black-Eyed Susans or Queen Ann’s Lace) that make it easier for bees to feed. Keep dishes of water filled for our fuzzy friends to rehydrate, and plant ground cover (coleus) in which they can rest in between feedings. Avoid pesticides which kill these tiny pollinators. Begin to compost. Minimize the amount of waste you send to landfills by setting aside and repurposing organic matter. This also reduces your contribution to global warming, as organic material placed in landfills is deprived of oxygen to break down, and instead creates methane gas. Making nutrient-rich soil conditioner from your kitchen and garden scraps will enhance your soil, strengthening your plants, and is simple to start. Place easily accessible compost bins in your kitchens and gardens, to encourage their everyday use. We have found that covered containers that are emptied regularly are the best way to nudge a shift in culture toward the adoption of the practice of composting. Reduce, refuse, reuse, recycle, remove plastic. The Earth Day Network’s focus for 2018 is to change people’s attitudes and behaviors regarding use of plastic. Analyze every choice to use plastic when planning or maintaining your garden and make a conscious decision to reduce and refuse plastic when you can. When using plastic, educate older adults on today’s recycling practices. Even many seasoned recyclers are not aware that plastic mulch bags and plastic containers that hold flats of flowers are recyclable. Beginning to implement these three changes this month will help the environment, and also strengthen your gardeners’ and visitors’ feeling of community and sense of purpose and place in this world.  

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Early signs of spring abound. Robins are beginning to return; bulbs beginning to burst through the ground. But the nights and some days still hold onto the lingering chill of winter, keeping many people indoors. This March, bring the early signs of spring indoors to put smiles on people’s faces and a sense of renewal in their hearts. Three easy ways to bring your therapeutic garden indoors this month include: Force early spring shrubs to bloom early. Take clippings of a few plants, place in warm water near sunny windowsills and watch the warmth of indoors trigger the plants to bloom. The best plants for forcing include forsythia, flowering quince, cherry, plum, magnolia, pussy willow, crab apple, Cornelian-cherry dogwood, redbud, serviceberry and witch hazel. Appeal to people’s sense of smell. The fragrant whiff of spices, herbs and other plants remind people of the warmth and help to improve mental health by warding off depression. Consider starting an indoor herb garden, including beauties such as lemon balm, rosemary, marjoram, mint and oregano. (Basil is trickier to encourage to thrive indoors. If you do plant basil, remember that it prefers a constant temperature around 70 degrees – meaning don’t keep it on a windowsill that gets cold at night.) Other plants that aren’t herbs that you could consider growing indoors: spice viburnum and fragrant angel daffodil. Get social. Involve older adults in planning this year’s garden. Create an event where interested people can sit together, chatting and creating visuals of what they’re interested in gardening this year. Cut out pictures of plants from seed catalogs to tape to copies of maps of the layout of your garden. Discuss what the community hopes to gain from the garden and any inspirational directions in which they are hoping to head. Bringing early spring indoors primes older adults to be keen to the change of season, instilling a sense of rejuvenation and awakening that positively impacts people’s bodies, minds and spirits.

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Implementing universal design elements into your therapeutic garden helps to ensure that people of all ages and abilities can enjoy the calming effect, creative outlet and sense of accomplishment that gardening offers.

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03/16/2017 – Jared Green Among hospital administrators, there seems to be a growing concern that therapeutic gardens can harbor diseases and spread them to those who have compromised immune systems. There was a case of Legionnaire’s disease spread through a water fountain, and soils can also be a source of some illnesses, but the fears are essentially unfounded, argued a trio of landscape architects at the Environments for Aging conference in Las Vegas. Good design and maintenance can eliminate the risks. Leah Diehl, director of therapeutic horticulture, the Greenhouse at Wilmot Gardens, college of medicine at the University of Florida, said landscape architects should use “evidence-based knowledge to counter fears.” The evidence points to the incredible health benefits of being in nature. As such, the proven health benefits of “seeing, hearing, touching water” found in a fountain — such as reduced stress, lower heart rates and blood pressures, and an increased sense of tranquility — outweigh the near-zero chance of catching something. In terms of soils, yes, there are toxic bacteria that naturally occur in the mix, but there’s also mycobacterium vaccae, which some scientists think can play a role in reducing the effects of depression and anxiety. For landscape architect Brian Bainnson, ASLA, “proper design can disrupt the process of infection.” For an infection to occur, there needs to be a pathogen, a susceptible host, and a mode of transmission. He argued that the Legionella bacteria, which causes Legionnaire’s disease, is more often spread through HVAC systems, spas, and jacuzzis than fountains. He said a “lack of maintenance allows the pathogen to grow.” He also said “there is no documented evidence of an infection from a healthcare garden.” For a healing garden at the Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland, Oregon, he designed a water feature with an integrated design team of physicians, therapists, hospital administrators, and maintenance workers to ensure there was no standing water when the fountain is off, and that patients can’t easily touch the water (see image at top). “Removing standing water is also good for vector control,” meaning it reduces places where mosquitoes can breed. For another garden in the oncology ward of a hospital, Bainnson recommended administrators install Ultraviolet (UV) or flouridation systems to ensure the water is clean. It’s important in these instances to work with the maintenance staff to make sure those filters are tested and cleaned regularly. For him, “the benefits of the fountains are too high, and they should outweigh any perceived risks.” Diehl offered other examples: the Evanston Hospital in Illinois, which has a three-story fountain wall that ends in a pool, use sand filtration and chlorination and tests regularly to ensure the highest levels of water quality. And at the Glenbrook Hospital, also in Illinois, there is an entire water management team charged with infection control that tests the water in their fountains each month. Jack Carman, FASLA, a landscape architect who focuses on senior care facilities, talked about the potential dangers of flora in therapeutic gardens, arguing that “not all plants are safe.” He said when using a plant in a healthcare setting, it’s important to know if “it’s toxic and highly injurious.” It can get complicated because some plants may be only mildly toxic, or both medicinal or toxic depending on the interaction. For example, juniper has a medicinal use but its berries are toxic in large amounts. And some other plants are questionable, like daffodils, which are safe, but have toxic bulbs. But there are some straight-out dangerous plants, like Foxglove, that shouldn’t be in therapeutic gardens. “Also, azaleas and rhododendrons don’t belong in a garden for Alzheimer’s patients.” Plants with extremely sharp edges, like hollies, or thorns, like rose bushes, obviously shouldn’t be found near where anyone is walking.

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Leverage the iconic sounding happy chirps of the American robin this March to improve the physical and emotional wellbeing of older adults in your care. Each spring, American robins play a bit of an early April Fool’s joke. These feathered friends seemingly announce their return from their winter migration with their well-known sing-songy chirps. The truth is, however, that robins do not migrate. That’s right: these fluffy red-breasted birds live across the United States year round. So why do we typically recognize their “return” as the first sign of spring? Once the ground begins to thaw, robins – ravenous after a long winter of shivering to stay warm and subsisting on berries – hop out of their treetop perches to forage for food with substance: worms and insects. This March, entice American robins to visit your garden. If providing platefuls of mealworms or earthworms has too much of an “ick” factor for you, consider instead consistently offering a water source to quench their thirst. The robins will quickly learn to visit your garden, serenading your residents and guests with their song. A known mood booster, listening to bird songs has been shown to reduce stress and attention fatigue, while lowering blood pressure. A small 2015 study out of the United Kingdom has even found that the restorative effect of listening to birdsongs also improves cognitive function. Now is the time to teach your feathered neighbors that your therapeutic garden should be their go-to destination this spring. One last tip: American robins do not eat birdseed. They do, however, welcome raisins or berries that are past their prime.

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With the change of season and the holidays emerging, many find that November induces a natural contemplative state of gratitude. People begin to reflect on relationships and seek connection with others. Position your therapeutic garden to be the central hub for activities related to appreciation and reflection this month. Keep your garden bright, with colors of changing foliage and seasonal blooms such as mums, as well as with soft lighting to address the waning sunlight and shorter days. Doing so will encourage others to see your garden as accessible and relevant, despite the cooler weather. You will likely find older adults and their caregivers strolling through your garden, as they are naturally drawn to a quieter environment for contemplation, self-inventory and rejuvenation. To aid older adults in a softer form of social connection, consider hosting a morning meditation group or gratitude journal session in the garden. Both of these activities capture the spirit of gratitude and reflection during this season. Simple craft activities are a fun way to inspire creativity and connection, as well. Mid-morning gatherings capture the essence of togetherness in a low-pressure environment designed to allow people to connect with both nature and each other. One easy craft activity is to gather brightly colored autumn leaves and then glue the preserved leaves to construction paper. Depending on the size and shape of the paper, and the leaves themselves, the creation could serve as either a bookmark or a place mat. We recommend preserving leaves using the wax paper method: Place a leaf between two sheets of wax paper Place a cloth hand towel on top of the uppermost wax paper. Press on the towel with a warm iron for approximately two minutes. Flip the wax/leaf to the other side; press on the towel with a warm iron for approximately two minutes on this side, as well. Use scissors to cut around the leaf, which is now sealed in the wax paper. Keeping older adults engaged with your therapeutic garden this month will capture the spirit of the season, through tranquility and social connection.

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The twinkling and soft glow of lighting in your therapeutic garden extends its use into these autumn months, when the dark of night begins to settle in earlier each day. Casting light onto walking trails, or illuminating focal point elements of the garden such as ornamental trees or rocks, transforms your garden into a sought-after destination, even after the moon rises. White mini lights, paper lanterns and mini uplighters all throw soft lighting, without casting unwanted glares into living quarters. Lighting serves as a safety function as well, inviting your night shift workers or older adults who can’t sleep to step outside — carefully — to seek silence and tranquility in the refreshing night air. Additionally, lighting announces the presence of your garden, lending curb appeal in the eyes of nighttime visitors. Using low voltage lighting that is residential, not commercial, will help to soften the atmosphere of your garden. The goal here is to increase the garden’s accessibility and safety, without installing light fixtures that shift the feel of your garden into that of a public park. Using low voltage, residential lighting helps to soften the atmosphere of your garden. Steer clear of commercial lighting, for these light fixtures can shift the feel of your garden from a serene ambiance to that of a public park. As we head into Halloween, and with the holiday season around the corner, consider setting a festive mood with seasonal lighting. Group pumpkins together on a patio table and surround them with orange mini lights to keep the Halloween spirit alive into the night. Adorn evergreen trees with glistening white lights to remind older adults of the Christmases of their youth. In spring, chili pepper lights under a canopy or pergola add an unexpected spice to Cinco de Mayo celebrations. Each season provides endless opportunity to incorporate lighting in your garden. After all, light transforms your space and, with it, the usability of your garden and the mood of those who visit it.

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