In this narrative review we explored existing evidence about people living with dementia accessing and using their garden in both the domestic home and care home settings. The review revealed that gardens enabled people living with dementia to maintain a sense of continuity and identity by connecting to nature, people, and to the moment, whilst managing everyday risks. However, the review also revealed a number of areas where attention and study is urgently required, including: increasing the visibility and presence of people living with dementia in the literature; developing more participatory, creative and co-research designs; and exploring the person living with dementia's denial of access to garden spaces.
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Health and Place. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Health and Place, 68, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2021.102516