Health
May 19, 2008 11:55 AM
beingwell magazine Spring 2008
By: Kristen Brownell
Gardens have always been special places intended as both a treat and retreat.
Flowers and other plant life stimulate the senses, calm the soul and now those qualities are being recognized for more than just sensory delights. Gardens, especially in hospital settings, are proving to be therapeutic, as well.
No one knows this better than Debbie Peshal.
“It refreshes you and gives you a better feeling … a feeling of being alive,” the Aurora resident says.
Generously supported by funds from Newmarket residents Dalton and Karen Faris, the sixth-floor rooftop of the cancer-care unit at Southlake Regional Health Centre has recently been transformed into an oasis of beautiful plants, flowers and shrubs in an effort to provide patients a retreat into nature and a chance to leave their beds to take in some fresh air.
Ms Peshal’s brother, Frank Britton, was one of the many patients who adored spending time in the garden. Unfortunately, Mr. Britton is unable to share his own story, as he died in August 2007 after a courageous battle with cancer. He was only 44. Ms Peshal says her brother “loved sitting out in the garden.
“Even in his last few weeks, he spent every day out there,” she says.
While the garden Mr. Britton loved most was the last place he would visit, it was the first place he would be remembered when a memorial service was held there in his honour.
“I couldn’t think of a better place to pay tribute to his life,” Ms Peshal says. “Knowing he liked to be there, you just felt content because you could feel his presence with you in spirit.”
The garden has also served as the site for a wedding reception organized by a Southlake volunteer. She provides a heartwarming description of an event that was, understandably bittersweet, as the bridegroom, an inpatient at the Oncology unit, died a short time later. However, the rooftop garden served as a meaningful and beautiful setting for the couple and their families on that special day.
Therapeutic gardens are now being praised for the benefits of well-being they can bring to patients. There is an increasing body of research to suggest that being in a garden is not only pleasant and relaxing; it is therapeutic and makes a measurable contribution to healing and recovery. One study has shown that simply looking at greenery can reduce stress, lower blood pressure, decrease muscle tension and increase positive feelings.
A survey of 24 Ontario hospitals conducted over the past 25 years suggested 95 per cent of patients, employees and even families benefit from therapeutic gardens at hospitals.
“To enable a patient to be able to go outside and enjoy the fresh air is very important,” says Pat Miller, a social worker at Southlake. “It’s very therapeutic to be able to be so close to nature,” she says. “It enables people to feel less like they’re in a hospital and is more normalizing. It’s unquestionably been a tremendous benefit to our unit.” Ms Miller added that Southlake’s garden provides a wonderful alternative to the usual hospital bedside visit for both patients and their families.
Easily accessible to all patients, even those in wheelchairs and hospital beds, Southlake’s garden officially opened in June 2007. The inspiration for the garden came, in part, by veteran volunteer and former nurse, Mary Slingerland.
During one of their regular meetings, the palliative care volunteers were given the opportunity to provide comments or make suggestions on how to better provide for patients. After many years spent working in a closed setting, Ms Slingerland – who is also a master gardener – liked the idea of “providing patients a place where they don’t have to feel like patients.
“You can’t open windows in hospitals anymore, so to be able to feel the fresh air and the warmth of the sun is absolutely wonderful,” Ms Slingerland says.
“People love gardens, because a garden is mystically a place of spiritual repose, stillness, peace, refreshment and delight.”
To help set the plan in motion, several local greenhouses were enlisted.
Ole Madsen, owner of Madsen’s Greenhouses and Garden Centre in Newmarket donated plants, including a combination of annual flowers and perennials that will continue to flourish year after year. Another local family, the Konhens of Blackforest Garden Centre in King City, was also ready to help in the start-up of the garden and continue to care for it today, with great enthusiasm for the joy it brings to patients and families.
“It’s generally known that plants and flowers are great therapy for the soul,” Mr. Madsen says. “I don’t think there’s anything more rewarding than starting a seedling and seeing it grow into a new life.” The donation was a small price to pay to see the garden brighten the life of Southlake’s patients, he added.
In an effort to maintain this sixth-floor sanctuary, a group of volunteers, including Ms. Slingerland, will continue to plant, water, fertilize and dead-head the garden in the spring so that it will help soothe the souls of those who inhabit it.
“It’s wonderful to see people out there enjoying it. You have no idea just how much of a difference it’s made to the patients,” Ms Slingerland says.
In the future, they hope to begin using the garden for special occasions, such as patients’ birthdays, she added. She is also looking forward to seeing the plans in the works for another garden at Southlake’s new Regional Cancer Centre, due to open in 2009.
It’s an idea Ms Peshal says she hopes more hospitals will adopt.
“These gardens really serve a purpose for everyone who uses them,” she says.
According to Paul Clarry, vice president of facilities and paramedical services at Southlake, future therapeutic gardens are already in the works. A large garden will be located near the main entrance of the new Regional Cancer Centre, as well as a terrace in the new chemotherapy suites.
The gardens will include a variety of plants that are native to the region.
Mr. Clarry says the gardens are intended to give patients and family peace of mind.
“People living with disease, particularly cancer, tend to connect with the natural environment,” he noted. “We have to create a different environment, so that if people have to use these services, they’re not distracted by an environment that’s strictly clinical.” Mr. Clarry concludes.