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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/12/flower-power-hospice-horticulture-care-patients
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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
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| Flower power: the hospice using horticulture to care for its patients | Flower power: the hospice using horticulture to care for its patients |
| (25 days later) | |
| “There are an awful lot of things that go through your mind when you know you’re not going to get better,” says Pamela Bolt, 87, who lives with a terminal heart condition. “It’s difficult to come to terms with these things if you’re alone.” | “There are an awful lot of things that go through your mind when you know you’re not going to get better,” says Pamela Bolt, 87, who lives with a terminal heart condition. “It’s difficult to come to terms with these things if you’re alone.” |
| Hospices care for 200,000 people a year, but they're powered by voluntary effort | |
| As Bolt says this, however, she is not alone. She is sitting at the head of a table surrounded by other people. In front of her are flower pots, ivy and a bowl of soil. She spends the next hour arranging and planting the bulbs and flowers, watering them and hearing other people’s life stories. | As Bolt says this, however, she is not alone. She is sitting at the head of a table surrounded by other people. In front of her are flower pots, ivy and a bowl of soil. She spends the next hour arranging and planting the bulbs and flowers, watering them and hearing other people’s life stories. |
| Bolt is taking part in a session of social and therapeutic horticulture (STH) at Phyllis Tuckwell hospice care in Farnham, Surrey. Those around the table all have different life-limiting conditions and illnesses, including dementia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). | Bolt is taking part in a session of social and therapeutic horticulture (STH) at Phyllis Tuckwell hospice care in Farnham, Surrey. Those around the table all have different life-limiting conditions and illnesses, including dementia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). |
| The benefits of nature on mental health are numerous. Many hospices have gardens that are used as spaces for patients and visitors to be together, or to give patients something to look at from their rooms. Hands-on gardening has never really featured as a part of end-of-life care in hospices, though, until now. Elisabeth Pilgrem, who runs the STH sessions and recently won a merit award from the Royal College of Occupational Therapists for her pioneering work in the area, says: “STH results in increased confidence and self-esteem. You feel like who you are and not your illness.” She explains that when someone has a disease that is advancing, like cancer, their body changes, and they take on the role of somebody who is ill. “[STH] enables people to take control of their illness. It’s about communication and managing symptoms.” | The benefits of nature on mental health are numerous. Many hospices have gardens that are used as spaces for patients and visitors to be together, or to give patients something to look at from their rooms. Hands-on gardening has never really featured as a part of end-of-life care in hospices, though, until now. Elisabeth Pilgrem, who runs the STH sessions and recently won a merit award from the Royal College of Occupational Therapists for her pioneering work in the area, says: “STH results in increased confidence and self-esteem. You feel like who you are and not your illness.” She explains that when someone has a disease that is advancing, like cancer, their body changes, and they take on the role of somebody who is ill. “[STH] enables people to take control of their illness. It’s about communication and managing symptoms.” |
| This feeling of remembering and regaining one’s identity is visible among those taking part in the session. Marie Cooper, 64, who has COPD and is hooked up to an oxygen tank 24 hours a day, says: “It’s inspired me to carry on. It’s brought back my childhood growing up in rural Ireland. This takes my mind off my illness.” Bolt adds: “I’ve gardened all my life and I can’t do it anymore. It’s the one thing I’ve missed. It’s wonderful to feel your fingers in the earth and to create something. It makes me feel like myself again.” | This feeling of remembering and regaining one’s identity is visible among those taking part in the session. Marie Cooper, 64, who has COPD and is hooked up to an oxygen tank 24 hours a day, says: “It’s inspired me to carry on. It’s brought back my childhood growing up in rural Ireland. This takes my mind off my illness.” Bolt adds: “I’ve gardened all my life and I can’t do it anymore. It’s the one thing I’ve missed. It’s wonderful to feel your fingers in the earth and to create something. It makes me feel like myself again.” |
| Pilgrem runs three sessions a week, with the help of volunteers, for people who are prescribed day hospice care. She also travels to hospices around the UK to talk to staff about the impact of STH. She believes having an occupational therapist deliver sessions makes all the difference; she assesses people to work out their ability and where STH can meet their needs. | Pilgrem runs three sessions a week, with the help of volunteers, for people who are prescribed day hospice care. She also travels to hospices around the UK to talk to staff about the impact of STH. She believes having an occupational therapist deliver sessions makes all the difference; she assesses people to work out their ability and where STH can meet their needs. |
| For those residents in the building who aren’t well enough to attend, she visits them with plants and herbs. Guy Wilton, 59, is a stroke survivor and limited in what he can do. “You don’t know from one day to the next how you’re going to be,” he says. Pilgrem visited Wilton, who used to be a landscape gardener, when he was struggling and left him some flowers. “I hadn’t seen that many flowers in ages,” he remembers. “There was such a feeling of calm and I felt really relaxed.” | For those residents in the building who aren’t well enough to attend, she visits them with plants and herbs. Guy Wilton, 59, is a stroke survivor and limited in what he can do. “You don’t know from one day to the next how you’re going to be,” he says. Pilgrem visited Wilton, who used to be a landscape gardener, when he was struggling and left him some flowers. “I hadn’t seen that many flowers in ages,” he remembers. “There was such a feeling of calm and I felt really relaxed.” |
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| Pilgrem tracks the impact of the sessions and has found participants report significant reductions in their stress levels. A change in mood is noticeable over the course of the session. It begins with everyone sitting quietly but by the end, people are chatting and smiling. One man with severe disabilities and visual impairment announces he’s going to play the piano. Moments later, the tune of English Country Garden sounds throughout the lounge. “That’s amazing – it’s the first time that has happened,” remarks the nurse in charge. | Pilgrem tracks the impact of the sessions and has found participants report significant reductions in their stress levels. A change in mood is noticeable over the course of the session. It begins with everyone sitting quietly but by the end, people are chatting and smiling. One man with severe disabilities and visual impairment announces he’s going to play the piano. Moments later, the tune of English Country Garden sounds throughout the lounge. “That’s amazing – it’s the first time that has happened,” remarks the nurse in charge. |
| It encapsulates what Pilgrem is trying to achieve. “Quality of life is not just about pain control,” she says. “It’s about providing activities and creating opportunities to live fully before death.” | It encapsulates what Pilgrem is trying to achieve. “Quality of life is not just about pain control,” she says. “It’s about providing activities and creating opportunities to live fully before death.” |
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