Health promoting qualities in the outdoor environment at residential care facilties for older persons

The project is about increasing knowledge of health promoting qualities in the outdoor environment at residential care facilities for older persons. An identified need in urban planning is physical outdoor environments at residential care facilities.

Outdoor environments at residential care facilitiesare are often difficult to reach from the indoor environment and not adapted for outdoor rehabilitation and outdoor stays, factors that are health-promoting for older persons.

Currently; rehabilitation is performed indoor and older persons at residential care facilities do not have a legal right of daily outdoor stays, a legal right both animals at farms and incarcerated persons in prisons have.

Pending development of outdoor rehabilitation as well as changes in the regulations regarding the right to daily outdoor stays, it is important to examine health promoting qualities in the physical outdoor environment.

It is also important to have focus on these qualities in relation to older person possibilities to move between indoor and outdoor environments to counteract the risk of experiencing to be locked up.

The project will result in an evidence-based guideline that focuses on important aspects of qualities in the physical outdoor environment at residental care facilities, that promotes the residents´ opportunity for increased health.

A working method will also be developed about how the important qualities that promote health, can be introduced into design and planning.