News from BGEN: seniors are ‘blooming’ in a new garden therapy program at Botanic Gardens of Sydney Colleen Fitzgerald, Learning Manager and Tess Jones, Learning Officer, Botanic Gardens of Sydney The therapeutic benefits of gardening have been documented for over 200 years and known for a millennium or more. Examples abound of the positive effects of therapeutic horticulture on people experiencing physical or cognitive disability, psychological injury, brain injury, poor mental health, social isolation, dementia, cardio-vascular disease and more.1 Botanic gardens educators regularly observe close up the positive impacts of gardens and immersive, nature-based learning on behaviour and engagement. When St Luke’s Care, Potts Point approached Botanic Gardens of Sydney education team with a proposal to co-develop a nature-based therapy program for residents with a dementia diagnosis, educators embraced this great opportunity. Eager to share their expertise and love of nature, they also embarked on a learning journey, observing at close hand how time spent in nature — facilitated by botanic gardens staff — could enrich the mental, physical, and emotional health of residents living with dementia. Together, St Luke’s and Botanic Gardens of Sydney created themes and activities to be delivered in 2-hour sessions at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, over several weeks.
St Luke’s Care group at Full Bloom Garden Therapy, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney 2023. Credit: Jacquie Manning
1 Spano, G, D'Este, M, Giannico, V et al. (2020). Are community gardening and horticultural interventions beneficial for psychosocial well-being? A meta-analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(10): 3584.
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THE BOTANIC GARDENer | ISS 61 Summer 2023
