gms | German Medical Science

Background and Purpose: According to demographic developments in most European countries the number if people with dementia (PwD) is rising. Besides other small-scale living facilities green care farms developed in several European countries. The objective of the symposium is to give an overview on models of green care farming in Europe and to present results of different studies concerning barriers and motivating factors for developing green care farms as well as results on psychosocial outcomes and quality of care.

Methods: The symposium combines four presentations reporting on green care farming in Europe. Different study designs were used. Often, mixed methods were used including qualitative and quantitative methods (observations, semi-structured interviews, repeated standardised measurements, etc.).

Results:

• The first presentation will present results focusing on barriers and motivating factors for green care farms in northern Germany. Results of in depth interviews with green care farmers (n=4) and political and administrative responsibles (n=6) are combined with results from a standardized survey of home care services (n=16), nursing homes (n=26) and potential users (n=7). The findings point out opportunities and difficulties in implementing Green Care Farms in Germany.
• The second presentation will describe results of a mixed-methods study into the effects of green care farms that provide 24-hour nursing home care for PwD in the Netherlands. It is investigated whether there are differences between green care farms, traditional nursing homes, and regular small-scale living facilities in terms of the daily lives of residents, quality of care, quality of life, and experiences of informal caregivers (n=115). Qualitative data gain insights into the positive and negative experiences of informal caregivers of PwD.
• The third presentation will describe results of a study identifying key components of farm based day care services for PwD in Norway, using Concept mapping as method. Two brainstorming session with 19 informants, all experts with many years of experience within this field were conducted. In all 85 statements were created. The eight final clusters forming the key components includes being in nature environments, experience an everyday setting, and fulfil personal interest.
• The fourth presentation will report on Care Farming, the first project of its kind to focus specifically on farming communities and rural communities to support individuals with dementia in the UK. The study investigates how farmers, their families and carers cope when they are affected by dementia. There are three main objectives – to consider the impact of dementia on farming businesses; to evaluate how dementia affects farming families and communities, and; to consider how voluntary and state agencies can support farming families with dementia.

Conclusions: The presented studies demonstrate strengths and but also weaknesses of green care farms in daily practice and the results will be useful for farming communities, healthcare and service providers, and academics researching the condition.

Programme Overview:

1.

Implementing Green Care Farms for PwD in Germany

2.

Effects of 24/7-green care farms for PwD in the Netherlands

3.

Farm based day care services for PwD in Norway

4.

Care farming in the UK

5.

Discussion