ADVANCEMENT OF THE PRACTICE
program. Tasks a senior undergraduate stu- dent might train another student on include teaching the new student how to determine how much water a plant needs, the process for starting new seeds or transplants, how to engage with patients and hospital sta, or other program maintenance. New students are allowed to volunteer at SVAMC as much as they desire and have time for, but students are instructed to limit their involvement with the garden spaces to only when there are experienced students or university program management present. Depending on the student’s background, experience, comfort, and confidence, as well as the university program management’s assessment of the student, this period can last anywhere between 4 weeks and one full semester. Once all parties are confident in the new student’s ability to work independently, the student is allowed and sometimes tasked with going to the garden to do plant care, plant maintenance, or run a program activ- ity. Changes in protocol or other factors that require student attention are disseminated throughout the group electronically via text or email, or during scheduled program meetings. Strengthening Involvement and Skills To ensure the maximum benefit for students and to develop components for the program that would require more time and focus, a skills-based project development model was implemented. University program manage- ment created and updated a list of projects and suggestions for program improvements. Students were given the opportunity to select and work on these projects after their first semester with the program. High importance was placed on the skills that these projects would require, but we specifically noted that the student did not need to have any specific skill but rather would develop any missing skills during the project. Examples of projects include plant care guides to give to patients upon discharge, reorganization of a space to be more plant- and patient-friendly, and the development of an activity library that could be consulted and published (for free) based on our program. Typically, students who elected to do these projects were working for internship credits and would be supervised by university pro- gram management to help them develop the skills required and create the final product.
This process helps to train students above and beyond their involvement with the rou- tine garden and patient interaction tasks, and it allows them to specialize or learn skills in a more controlled, guided environment com- pared with learning independently.
be mentioned routinely to first-year semi- nar students and advertised via emails to students under advisement for premed pro- grams. Finally, the program was presented at student activity fairs, open houses, and the occasional special information session, which would be announced campuswide. Unlike many internships and laboratory experiences, students can volunteer with the program beginning their first semester, which makes it an attractive option for high- achieving students. Once a student expresses interest, they are directed to set up a meeting and attend an activity at SVAMC to observe how things work. During this meeting, the format and ideals of the program are presented. Addition- ally, the student is asked questions about their familiarity with plants, experience in medical facilities, and their future career goals. If both the student and the university program man- ager feel the program is a good fit, then the options for the work activities are presented. In general, students who are simply doing volunteer work are given the lowest level of responsibility and are asked to track their hours independently. Students who are inter- ested in premed patient contact hours are given slightly higher expectations but still record their hours independently. Any stu- dents who wish to pursue internship credits are required to set goals for their involvement, sign up for the credits, and document hours each week accordingly. These students often are given the highest level of responsibility and corresponding expectations. Between semesters, students are asked to determine how comfortable they are with their level of involvement and responsibility, and then they are given the opportunity to adjust their responsibility level. Training All students working with the program at SVAMC are required to complete the same volunteer orientation process, regardless of if getting credit as an intern or simply vol- unteering. After that, training specific to the program begins, generally through hands-on experience week after week as part of the nor- mal activity rotation. Typically, this training is handled by the university program manage- ment, but training for a particular task may be delegated to one of the senior undergradu- ate students who has experience with the
Sta ng Requirements for Developing New Programs
One of the largest challenges is anticipating the time commitment required for sta for dierent types of programming. In general, there are at least two individuals dedicated to the success of the program: personnel from both the university and the partner site are responsible for the optimal management of the program. In most cases, program manage- ment is limited to these key people for e- ciency. All management, sta, and students need to be able to contact each other, to be kept up-to-date on planned activities, and to report successes or problems encountered in the implementation of any activity. Individual activity stang will vary based on the complexity of the activity and the number of patients involved, which needs to be taken into consideration when plan- ning activities. In addition to sta being involved in activities, there needs to be a commitment to general plant maintenance. Depending on the number of plants on-site and who will be responsible for primary plant care, there can be more partner site sta or more students involved. This determination for how many people are needed should be made with consider- ation to variables such as distance from the site to the university (sites that are farther away are more dicult for students to visit between classes), ease of access to the facil- ity, and if the partner site sta can engage patients or residents in plant care eectively. Also, additional individuals might need to be involved to help cover vacations or unex- pected absences, and if the program is to survive the promotion, retirement, or end of service of any one individual. Discussion and Conclusion We hope that this program will be transfer- able as a model to other institutions, both higher education and healthcare, specifi- cally for therapeutic horticulture activities. The partnership helps to supplement exist- ing treatment and therapy in healthcare
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Volume 86 • Number 6
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