Nature-based engagement, ageing in place, and the well-being of community-dwelling older adults living with dementia: A comprehensive scoping review

There has been an increase in research that explores the everyday well-being of community-dwelling older people living with dementia – including insights into everyday routines, local neighbourhood interactions, connections to nature, and participation in community programmes – and how these contribute to ‘ageing in place’ narratives. Informed by past literature and following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, this comprehensive scoping review collated literature on nature-based engagements among community-dwelling adults living with dementia across domestic, neighbourhood and community-based settings, and examined how they facilitated different facets of well-being. Five databases were searched using a broad search term strategy, alongside manual journal searches, resulting in 35 identified papers. The findings reveal diverse forms of nature-based engagement for community-dwelling people with dementia, ranging from passive encounters with nature, to active use of domestic gardens, everyday outdoor leisure pursuits, and more structured programmes such as gardening groups, green care farms, and horticultural therapies. Across the included studies, we categorised six well-being benefits associated with nature-based engagement, while also acknowledging the most common environmental, structural, and psychosocial barriers to well-being. This review contributes to discussions on ageing in place but furthermore with place, by demonstrating that nature-based engagement extends beyond mere settings or structured programmes, forming a functional part of everyday community-dwelling life for people with dementia. These findings extend the concept of ageing in and with place beyond the domestic home, positioning nature-based engagement as a mediator between home, neighbourhood, and community spaces, influencing well-being through everyday mobilities and relations.