DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR NATURAL CARE ENVIRONMENTS FOR PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA: THE CASE STUDY OF CASCINA GRACE

The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a worldwide lockdown, which requires people to stay at home in quarantine to prevent the spread of this infectious disease. This lockdown measure has several negative impacts on people's mental health, especially for people with dementia. The effects of the imposed isolation in the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to induce or exacerbate depression, anxiety, and stress in people with dementia. Nature contact has been considered crucial in eliminating the negative effects of lockdown on mental health due to its restorative effects. The restorative effect of the natural environment also positively impacts people with dementia, including reduction of stress, aggressive behaviors, and improvement of cognitive function, well-being, daily activities, and Identity. So, contact with the natural world is an essential component of dementia care. Currently, many different forms of natural environment emerged in dementia care to allow people with dementia, whether they are living in the community or long-term care facilities, to contact nature. In contrast to gardens and outdoor space in long-term care facilities, the natural care environment, like the green care farm, is a new model that offers people with dementia access to nature. This paper presents a review of the main design features of the existing green care farm. This review aims to highlight the potential strengths of the natural care environment for people with dementia. Thus, based on this examination, this paper illustrates a set of design tactics elaborated for the development of a pilot-study case: CASCINA GRACE, a green dementia village located in the heart of the Southern periphery of Milan, where you can live a temporary or long-term experience in a countryside setting.