LifeStyle Wellness
A GARDEN OF POSSIBILITY Creating meaningful and therapeutic connections to nature
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By Felicia L. Niven
here’s something about gardening that nurtures your very soul. Perhaps it’s the feel of the earth running through your fingers, the subtle scent of life waiting to blossom, or the deep connection to nature as you engage in cultivating your own special space. Now imagine that you bring to this activity a lifetime of memories — growing vegetables to sustain your family during the Great Depression for example — and you can understand what is so extraordinary about the gardening programs at Seashore Gardens Living Center (SGLC) in Galloway, N.J. These programs are able to touch the residents in ways that are truly powerful. Horticultural therapy has long been used in senior communities for its ability to provide mental and physical stimulation, and opportunities for socialization; and at SGLC, there is ample opportunity to explore this interest. Residents can benefit from the kaleidoscope of changing colors and scents in the Alzheimer’s Sensory Trail & Garden and reap countless health-related rewards from the interactive programs from the Rutgers Master Gardeners and Eldergrow.
showing off the beautiful landscaping and realized that it was a rare moment to find our residents out there,” she said, “perhaps because of mobility challenges or cognitive impairment.” However, she had spent enough time with seniors, including her beloved Irish grandmother, to know that they would truly benefit from that kind of interaction with nature. “I wanted to bring nature indoors in an interactive and purposeful way,” she said. That was the inspiration for Eldergrow, which she founded in 2015 as a project for her Healthcare Executive MBA. She received immediate validation, with accolades ranging from the 1st place audience award and 2nd place judges award at the 17th Annual Harriet Stephenson Business Competition. Now in 21 states and almost 200 communities on the continental U.S., Eldergrow is a proven program providing residents with meaningful and therapeutic connections to nature. In 2018, it impacted 11,851 residents in senior living communities, with 90% of them fully or partially meeting their therapeutic goals. SGLC offers two Eldergrow programs The Rutgers Master Gardener Program that feature mobile, indoor gardens. Master Gardener Patty Dorr-Lewin receives The first is the original, the therapeutic a special greeting each time she visits horticultural program that will be offered educator Mikkele Lawless introduces SGLC. “The residents see my red shirt and Eldergrow to Comfort Care residents with Alzheimer’s the garden to Comfort Care residents. ponytail and they start singing, ‘You are my or other forms of dementia. The second sunshine,’” said Patty. “That’s how we open each session.” will be a farm-to-fork culinary herb garden for residents Patty started at SGLC in 2013 as a master gardener educator. of Assisted Living. It will come with recipes and activities. “I’ve been gardening all of my life and I love it. I also adore Stockton University students, a.k.a. The Seashore Gardeners, working with seniors. When I first visited Seashore Gardens, have been trained in the program and are volunteering to help I fell in love with the place and the opportunity to volunteer.” SGLC Activities staff. She visits monthly from March to November, working with “It’s far more than a garden club; it’s a wellness program,” residents in 45-minute sessions. noted Orla. “We’re igniting the senses, engaging motor skills, “We gather around a table to encourage interaction,” she stimulating cognitive exploration. Classes are a range of said. “We start seeds, plant herbs, create terrariums. We work traditional gardening, garden art, and garden harvest. The in standing gardens. We do a planter for the nurses’ station. program really builds self-esteem. Many of these residents We emphasize the senses — the softness of lamb’s ears or used to be working professionals; now they have time on their the spikiness of other plants, for example. We taste herbs or hands. We’re helping to fill that void and give them something vegetables.” meaningful that they can nurture.” The very act of gardening elicits the memories, she noted. Eldergrow is the only program of its kind tailored for “The residents will reminisce about summer days when they residents and SGLC is the only facility in south Jersey to would spend hours searching along the creek for watercress,” offer it. The Master Gardeners program is made possible via Rutgers University. “We’re said Patty. “They will tell me how they would walk in their always looking for the bare feet, and how they had to go early, or the heat would be innovative programs that unbearable. I look forward to hearing their stories and creating enrich quality of life for our something meaningful together with them each session.” residents,” said Executive Director Alysia Price. Eldergrow “We’re excited to be able to Orla Concannon experienced a pivotal moment when she offer these, and more.” n was touring a family around a senior living community. “I was Est. 1916
