Poster can be found in location 69.

There is increased awareness of the importance of providing health-promoting indoor and outdoor everyday environments for persons with special needs. To understand older adults’ needs and wishes in contact with the outdoor environments at residential care facilities (RCFs) it is important to explore and include the residents’ own experiences. Therefore, the present qualitative study aims to illuminate needs and wishes of older adults living at RCFs regarding their contact with the outdoors. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the potential of the outdoor environment as a resource for person-centered care, the study covered four different zones of the physical environment, in which contact with the outdoors can occur. Twelve older adults from three RCFs participated in individual walking interviews in indoor and outdoor environments. Through qualitative content analysis three categories were identified that exemplify how the needs and wishes of older adults can serve as a resource for developing supportive everyday environments at RCFs. The first category describes several aspects of normality linked to outdoor stays at RCFs for older adults. The second category describes aspects of attractiveness; it relates to the longing for outdoor stays, appreciated features and well-kept outdoor environments. The third category describes accessibility in the environments at RCFs, access to personal support for outdoor stays and experiences with uncertainty. The results from the study can be used to develop outdoor environments at RCFs, possible to use for person-centred care. The results are intended to facilitate practical knowledge that is useful to staff and managers at RCFs and to decision makers, property developers, architects and planners. The study is at the intersection of caring science, architecture and landscape architecture.