Safety in a person-centred, garden-based art therapy group for people with dementia

Urban Farm DB summary

This practice paper describes an ongoing, weekly garden-based art therapy group for people with dementia, facilitated in a community garden. Using a person-centred approach, the facilitators explored factors contributing to psychological safety, drawing on client feedback, artwork, and observations. Findings indicated that the non-clinical garden setting provided calming effects, inspiration, and focus, while the person-centred approach fostered expression, communication, and feelings of value and success, despite some challenges inherent to the outdoor environment.