Why Scotland Is Opening a Dementia Center in a National Park

Larger green spaces may be critical to a city, as they can support more complete ecosystems. In contrast to smaller "parklets," large parks paired with high-density neighborhoods allow for healthier cities.

More than five million Americans have Alzheimer’s or similar illnesses, and that number is growing as the population ages - without any immediate prospect of a cure, advocacy groups have begun promoting ways to offer people with dementia a comfortable decline instead of imposing on them a medical model of care, which seeks to defer death through escalating interventions. An Arizona nursing home offers new ways to care for people with dementia.

Poor neighborhoods in the United States lack quality play spaces for children, also known as play deserts. An organization is enabling communities across the nation to build their own playground.

Great minds from Plato to Piaget have recognized the importance of play in healthy child development, but with bullying becoming more prevalent on school playgrounds and increased pressure to maximize school hours to boost performance on standardized tests, schools are struggling to implement meaningful recess. Playworks and other similar non-profit groups provide coaching for adults on how to help structure children's playtime to be healthy, productive, and enjoyable, while allowing children to explore on their own and develop positive relationships.

Obesity is at an all-time high in the United States, and is hard to combat. But urban obesity can be countered with inviting streets to stroll, dramatic staircases to climb, parks to exercise in - it’s called “active design.”

Despite strong evidence that school-based physical activity improves children’s cognitive skills, concentration, and behavior, schools under pressure to produce quantitative results and decrease bullying have drastically cut back on recess in recent years. An Oakland-based nonprofit organization called Playworks is working to make healthy play accessible for more children and show schools how productive recess can be to the whole academic world.

Playgrounds that are accessible for children with special needs can be difficult to find. NPR launched a national crowd-sourced guide called Playgrounds for Everyone, which invited individuals to add playgrounds that are accessible. After the launch, nearly 400 playgrounds have been added to the already 1200 playgrounds on the map that will help families find public places for their children to play.

Even though natural parks are in close proximity to New York City’s metropolitan hub, many are inaccessible and overlooked areas for recreation and sport. Conservation groups, including the Natural Areas Conservancy and the Bronx River Alliance, have worked to restore trails, offer tour opportunities, and protect parks' natural geography, benefitting millions of New Yorkers’ mental and physical health.

Many medical students are intimidated by the challenge of having to gather accurate histories and establish connections with patients with dementia. A non-profit, Arts and Minds, is helping students get more comfortable by connecting them with patients outside of the clinic through museum visits.

What can you do to enjoy time with Alzheimer’s patients? A suburb near San Diego has recently opened a new town square with architecture designed to look like it is from the 1950s. The space offers aging baby boomers with dementia or Alzheimer’s a place to enjoy and interact with nostalgia.