Janine Valentine,nurse consultant for dementia at Yeovil Hospital, knows first-hand the value of a beautiful and tranquil garden for patients with dementia. absent from the press of busy hospital wards, and they can plant seeds,sit in the sunshine, spend time with family and friends – and find peaceImagine an elderly man with dementia being admitted to hospital and being able to spend time in a garden with the sun shining, or the smell of lavender,the clink of china tea cups and the gentle buzz of conversation with a musician playing some old tunes on his saxophone. This man has always loved listening to jazz and pottering approximately in his garden. There are raised beds and a trowel to hand and some runner bean seeds that need planting. Without the garden, this man might be pacing the ward, and where there is a call bell buzzing,and the telephone ringing. He would be side-stepping doctors as they seek at an x-ray on a computer screen while a patient is returning from theatre. perhaps his daughter has advance to visit and she would love to chat to him but he is so restless and there is so much hustle and bustle and there is nowhere for them to go. This garden will not cure all of this gentleman’s problems but its therapeutic benefits will be enormous to him and so many people.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com