While garden landscaping and virtual reality technologies require an additional investment, many hospitals find that the wellness possibilities far outweigh the expense.I once had a friend who was a physical education teacher. Hospitals continue to push the boundaries of nature in their treatment plans and are reaping the outcomes of reduced patient stress, faster patient recovery times, and fewer pain medication requests. These technological nature scenes can provide positive impacts for patients with reduced mobility or with sensitivities to pollen or sunlight. A study in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking found that patients who spent ten minutes in a virtual reality nature scene experienced stress relief similarly to patients who spend time in actual nature. Medical researchers are examining patients’ responses to virtual nature in comparison to authentic nature scenes. In a passive model, a patient may look at trees through a window (such as in Ulrich’s 1984 study), look at paintings of nature, or watch a video of a nature walk.Īs digital technology continues to expand, the definition of a hospital garden may change to include virtual models. In a less active situation, a patient might sit or walk in a garden space to listen to birdsong or admire the greenery. In horticultural therapy, patients garden and directly care for plants as a way to exercise and to. In horticultural therapy, a patient may garden to exercise and reduce stress. There are three ways to include nature into a patient’s treatment plan: active, less active, and passive.Ī patient may have an active relationship to nature by tending to or watering plants, a method that’s common in horticultural therapy. The patients overwhelmingly responded best to greenery, birdsong, and water features. However, one hospital removed such an abstract ‘garden’ exhibit after 20% of cancer patients reported that the exhibit actually increased their stress levels. Some hospitals have attempted to install garden-type art spaces, such as with large metal statues meant to resemble birds or flowers. Landscaping and maintaining a full hospital garden can be inaccessible to some hospitals and doctor’s offices. A variety of private areas and common areas that both individuals and families can enjoy.Water features like fountains or streams.Blooming plants may provide a reminder of hope and life for those people facing terminal illnesses.Ī study in the Journal of Architectural and Planning Research found that successful hospital gardens share some common traits: A hospital garden can provide a respite from these stressful stimuli. Patients and visitors in a hospital are often exposed to alarms, complicated medical equipment, blank walls, and worries about sickness or mortality. A hospital visit is a stressful experience. Is nature intrinsically a healing force, or is it a placebo? One powerful component of a hospital garden is its escapist quality. In the decades since Ulrich’s study, questions remain unanswered. The patients who could regularly see nature through their window tended to recover faster, reported less pain, and needed less pain medication than patients whose windows overlooked brick walls or less scenic vistas. While the patients underwent the same procedure and recovery routine, some patients stayed in hospital rooms facing tree branches. In the study, Roger Ulrich (an environmental psychologist) compared patients recovering from gallbladder surgery at the same hospital. What role does a healing garden, like the one at AdventHealth Carrollwood, have in a 21st-century hospital? Many medical researchers continue to cite a 1984 study that correlated positive patient outcomes with a nature view. How might hospital gardens promote patient well-being? If natural views and sounds can help reduce stress, might exposure to nature also prevent some of the health complications that accompany stress? Healing gardens present promising insight about nature and patient recovery.
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