Horticulture Therapy Program - Essay Example

Horticultural Therapy Horticultural Therapy Horticultural therapy is the use of nature to help in curing the body, mind and spirit. It is a practice that is dated back to 1790 when people got psychiatric care and paid by doing garden work. It is an art that is used in hospitals, in rehabilitation centers, schools and even prisons. A client engages in garden related work supervised by a trained therapist for specific treatment (Hazen, 1997).This kind of therapy helps in improvement of memory, motor skills, eye and hand coordination, eye sight and also creativity. Horticultural therapy does not require a greenhouse. It can also be done in a closed room. When conducting horticultural therapy, small groups of less than twenty five people are recommended to make it more effective and interactive (Flagler, 1993). The Saint John psychiatric hospital in Boulder Colorado has asked us to design a horticultural therapy program for people with depression and trauma. There is a group of twenty people. Two are seventeen years old, ten are between twenty four to twenty seven and eight are over sixty. The hospital has asset aside a therapeutic garden a few kilometers from the main hospital. The piece of land is 30*60 in an open space. We have gathered at least six volunteers of all ages and six trained therapists. The expected program is an eight session gardening exercise per half a year. These sessions will run from January to April and July to August. The expected fee is $500 per client for this therapy. It is to be conducted during summer when the weather is most conducive. The overall budget for the program is $850.Supplies required for this program include; plastic and clay pots, flat trays, wet towels, garden gloves, horticultural-grade vermiculite, potting soil, paper towels, chop sticks, plant labels, plastic spoons and watering containers. These are ordered from gardening and greenhouse suppliers in Colorado. The main aim of this program is to cure and manage trauma and depression, allow for creativity, development of some skills like following sequences and paying attention and social interaction .Most of the work will involve art and hand work. Participants will be required to do things like flower arrangement, planting seeds, mixing potting soil. This will help to open up their minds to think broadly. The serenity of the outdoors will help calm down participants and give them a relaxing feeling. This will help them to handle their depression and trauma. The therapy program will help to create new friendships. This is because people will be working in groups therefore allowing them to socialize.(Hazen.1997) Metaphorical communication is used a lot in psychology especially in therapy. Metaphors are described as use of one thing to describe another and see something in a whole new perspective. Clients use metaphors when they are describing their problems with therapists. The therapist must then ensure that he or she understands what the client is trying to say. (Gordon,1978) Metaphors are very significant in this program. This is because it will involve different age groups. People of different ages have their own unique metaphors. Plant metaphors will help participants think deeply on how their journey to recovery is similar to that of the plants. The plant cycle from seeds to full growth and reproduction will help participants think deeply on how beautiful life is. A participant is expected to nurture the seedlings to maturity so they will observe the entire plant life cycle. This will help them reflect on their lives and make necessary changes to help cure their conditions. The anticipation, anxiety and the joy of seeing the plants grow successfully will help them see life in a positive light just like a new parent.(Flagler.1993) Garden map 60’ 333 30’ 30 The overall budget for the program is $850.We must ensure that we work with this budget to avoid a premature program due to lack of completion. The garden is facing south therefore receiving direct sunlight. This is very conducive for plants that require adequate sunlight. There should be constant sunlight all day for effective plant growth. The pilot group will plant tomatoes and green pepper. These are easy to plant and to nurture. The objectives of the program are to promote mental and physical health through horticulture. The participants will wear garden gloves and aprons to avoid too much dirt. They will be required to water the compost first. Then the compost should be mixed thoroughly with standard potting soil. The participants will also be required to prepare the garden. First they will require nurseries for the two plants. The land will require to be raised 10 inches above the surrounding ground. The already prepared soil will then be leveled to create two table _ like spaces. A fairly deep trench will be dug around the two nurseries to avoid flooding. After the nurseries are ready and well watered, the seeds will then be sown a quarter inch inside the soil in straight vertical lines. One nursery will have tomato seeds and the other will have green pepper seeds. They should then cover the seeds with a thin layer of potting soil and label the nurseries. Munches of dried up grass will be placed on the nursery. This will prevent too much sunlight from heating the seeds and over evaporation of water. After eight days, the seeds will have germinated into seedlings. They will then be transferred from the nursery to the main garden. This will require at most care. The garden will be ploughed a few days before the transfer. One side will contain tomatoes and the other will contain green pepper. The participants will mix the garden soil with compost and water. The seedlings will then be planted in small holes of about one and half inches deep in straight vertical lines. The seedlings will be lightly munched until they are tall enough. After this, sticks of about one and a half meters length will be planted next to every seedling. A string will be used to tie the head of the seedling and then tight spiral all the way up each stick. This is to support the week stems when the plants start to reproduce. There will be sprinklers at the sides and the middle of the garden. This will water the plants early in the morning and late in the evening. The therapists are required to interact with participants during the exercise and find out how they are doing and how they are feeling during the process. After the program, the participants will be required to harvest the ripe tomatoes and green pepper which will be sold and the money donated to charity. They are then to be evaluated. This is to find out if the program was effective to them. The therapists will conduct various tests on each participant to find out if the program was helpful. It will help them appreciate the little things in life, unwind and get away from their troubles and also move on. In conclusion, Horticulture therapy has been proved to be very effective in cure of psychological problems like depression, trauma or stress. That is the reason why Saint John Psychiatric hospital has decided to embrace it to improve their quality of services to their patients. This will put the hospital at the top in the state of Colorado. It will be effective and it will cost so much less to launch. This will be a big step for the hospital and it will set pace for other hospitals to embrace horticulture therapy. References Flagler, J. (1993). ‘Horticultural Therapy’ (Rutgers Cooperative Research and Extension Publication FS692). NewBrunswick, NJ: Rutgers Cooperative Research and Extension. Hazen, T.M. (1997).’ Horticultural Therapy in the Skilled Nursing Facility.’ In S.E. Wells (Ed.) Horticultural Therapy and the Older Adult Population (pp.39-60). New York, NY: The Haworth Press, Inc. Gordon I (1978).’Therapeutic metaphors’ Pertino ;CA meta publications Shapiro, B.A., & Kaplan, M.J..(1998) ‘Mental Illness and Horticultural Therapy Practice’ In S.P. Simson & M.C. Straus (Eds.), Horticulture as Therapy Principles and Practice (pp.3-18). Binghamton, NY: The Food Products Press, an imprint of The Hawthorne Press, Inc. Flahive DiNardo, M. & Flagler, J. (2005) Gardening with Seniors (Rutgers Cooperative Research and Extension Publication FS023). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Cooperative Research and Extension. Read More