ADVANCEMENT OF THE PRACTICE
Open Access
SPECIAL REPORT
Abstract In summer 2013, a therapeutic horticulture program was established between researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry and the Syracuse Veterans Aairs Medical Center. The goal of the program was to promote mental and social well-being through gardening and garden-related activities. To support this eort, students were recruited from the university, which allowed the students to engage in internships, gain patient contact hours for medical school admission applications, or give back to their local community through volunteer hours. The implementation of this program can serve as a model for universities to partner with healthcare facilities to bring nature-based activities to their residents. Keywords: therapeutic horticulture, horticultural therapy, students, univer- sity internships, volunteer, veterans’ hospital Growing Seeds and Students: Therapeutic Horticulture Programs and the Involvement of University Students
Daniel Collins, MPS Lee Newman, PhD State University of New York (SUNY), College of Environmental Science and Forestry
included a 21-bed Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders Center. On the roof of this building is a therapy terrace that includes ramps and stone or grass walking areas for patients to practice their mobility in a controlled, sup- portive environment (Mulder, 2013). For the opening of this terrace, plants and pots were brought in by members of uni- versity program management from the State University of New York College of Environ- mental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF)— this activity marked the beginnings of the therapeutic horticulture program. The uni- versity program management worked with recreational therapy sta from SVAMC to help patients fill the pots with soil before transplanting herbs, flowers, and fruit and vegetable seedlings. This event signaled the start of a decade-long partnership that would involve more than 30 undergraduate stu- dents donating hundreds of hours of their time, expertise, and enthusiasm to work with patients in the garden at SVAMC. A standard schedule emerged for the pro- gram, centered on the academic year, the growing season, and the availability of stu- dent interns and volunteers. Most weeks, ses- sions that lasted 1–2 hr were designated for an organized activity, with the patients either on the unit or in the rooftop garden. Inside, watering would occur every 2–3 days by uni- versity program management and students, with recreational therapy sta supplement- ing on the o days. Summer watering of the outside plants was done every day by uni- versity program management and students. Additional special events were held outside of the standard schedule, such as holiday parties, a large-scale planting event in the late spring, and the occasional visit by hospital or university sta and administrators.
Introduction Therapeutic horticulture is the use of garden- ing and gardening-related activities to pro- mote health and well-being. During and after World War II, in veterans hospitals estab- lished by the U.S. government, plant-based activities were brought in by volunteers for the veterans to participate in as they recov- ered. By the 1950s, Alice Burlingame, a psy- chiatric worker and occupational therapist, had begun to teach horticultural therapy courses for occupational therapy externs (i.e., nonresident sta) at Pontiac State Hospital (Relf, 2006). Using the volunteer model, college stu- dents are a viable population who possess the desire and knowledge that can be ben- eficial to the administration and execution of these types of programs. While there may be many dierent motivations for college stu- dents to volunteer (Handy et al., 2010), there
are also major benefits to their education, social awareness, and general well-being that result from volunteer opportunities (Kropp & Wolfe, 2018). Through the program, stu- dents can benefit from the experience of vol- unteering, generally (Morrow-Howell et al., 2009) and also gain the benefits of therapeu- tic horticulture themselves, such as reduc- tions in stress and anxiety (Ulrich & Simons, 1986), higher physical activity, greater self- perception of health (Pietilä et al., 2015), and greater executive function and directed atten- tion (Kaplan & Berman, 2010). All of these attributes can be important for student suc- cess in college.
Syracuse Veterans Aairs Program Description
In 2013, the Syracuse Veterans Aairs Medi- cal Center (SVAMC) completed the construc- tion of an additional wing to the hospital that
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Volume 86 • Number 6
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