Gardens, agency and citizenship of people with dementia
A Critical Interpretive Synthesis
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7146329 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lee Rushton (0009-0007-1166-4565, University of Wollongong, corresponding author), Louisa Smith (0000-0001-7026-0607, Deakin University), Lyn Phillipson (0000-0003-2173-0291, University of Wollongong) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 10 |
| Pages | 2141-2163 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Ageing and Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0144-686X • E-ISSN: 1469-1779 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0144686x24000771 |
| OpenAlex | W4405604919 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 58 |
People living with dementia are often presumed to have no agency or capacity to act in the social world. They are often excluded from participating in research while research methodologies may not capture their embodied engagement with people and places. Yet, like everyone, people with dementia can express their agency in nuanced ways, for example, through emotions or embodied expression. In the conceptual framework discussed here, nuanced agency is conceived as consisting of non-deliberative elements (embodied, emotional, habituated, reflexive and intersubjective) and deliberative elements (choices or decisions and facilitative). Although people with dementia have been found to benefit from gardens with their sensory appeal, how they experience gardens is not well understood. This critical interpretive synthesis aims to explore how people with dementia experience nuanced forms of agency and citizenship in gardens. A conceptual framework of agency was developed to address the aim and support the analysis. Analysis of the 15 included studies highlighted the value of the conceptual framework in identifying a wider and more granular array of nuanced agency expressed in embodied form and through dialogue. This included expressions of intersubjective and facilitative agency that informed opportunities for people with dementia to experience relational citizenship socially in communal garden settings. These findings suggest an opportunity for researchers to explore the embodied agency of people living with dementia more comprehensively by applying theoretical concepts of agency. Further testing of the framework’s utility for guiding collection and analysis of primary data involving people with dementia in garden settings is recommended
Agency (philosophy) · Citizenship · Conceptual framework · Dementia · Embodied cognition · Epistemology · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Reflexivity · Social science · Sociology · Medicine · Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies · Psychology · Urban Green Space and Health
The PRISMA 2020 statement
‘Knocking at the door of humanity’
Respecting Agency in Dementia Care
Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis
‘My father is a gardener … ’
Green dementia care in accommodation and care settings
Characteristics and Challenges for the Development of Nature-Based Adult Day Services in Urban Areas for People with Dementia and Their Family Caregivers
Provision of Outdoor Nature-Based Activity for Older People with Cognitive Impairment
Green spaces, dementia and a meaningful life in the community
Enacting agency
Broadening and deepening the understanding of agency in dementia
The landscape of dementia inclusivity
Recognising the agency of people with dementia
Facilitating decision-making by people with dementia
They didn't think we'd do it!”
Co-creativity, well-being and agency
Narrative(,) citizenship and dementia
Facilitating creativity in dementia care
Let me grow old and senile in peace
Transforming lived places into the connected neighbourhood
Ways of being’ in the domestic garden for people living with dementia
Qualities of the environment that support a sense of home and belonging in nursing homes for older people
Ethnographic reflections on selfhood, embodiment and Alzheimer's disease
Showing how they feel
I can still swing a spade
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |