Gardens and health - implications for policy and practice - Philippa Lynch

The report has three aims:

• to collate and summarise the evidence on the impact of gardens on wellbeing across the life-course, from childhood through family life and into older age
• to demonstrate the important place gardening interventions have in the wider health and care system with a focus on four specific areas: social prescribing; community gardens; dementia care; end-of-life care
• to make the case for the further integration of gardens and health into mainstream health policy and practice.

The report includes a ‘menu’ of recommendations that aims to encourage the NHS, government departments, national bodies, local government, health and wellbeing boards and clinical commissioning groups to make more of the diverse health benefits of gardening in support of their priorities.