Therapeutic effect of Horticulture

Quietude and demureness through right livelihood (samma aajeewa):

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How horticulture helps patients?

Horticulture project; beyond synthetic barriers

The hospital premises is well kept by the enthusiastic employees

Correctly instructed by the efficient staff- result of the efforts to change the attitudes

When a person is suffering from mental illness for a prolonged period, without returning to his or her normal life or by living in an institution for many years, he or she becomes inactive and may lose self-confidence and ability to make decisions and to control any aspects of his or her life.

Horticultural Therapy is one of the rehabilitation tools that help them regain their lost abilities and self-confidence and thus speed up recovery. Working in a garden, improves one's power of concentration, help learn new skills and person becomes more socialised by working with a team and interacting with team members.

Self-esteem and a sense of responsibility are improved by caring for plants.

Horticultural Therapy can be applied in different contexts; such as children with learning disabilities, elderly persons and prisoners and the refugees. This is also a kind of a meditation even practised in Zen tradition of Buddhism.

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by Ranga Chandrarathne

Although horticulture has been tried and tested in uplifting the economic wellbeing of the impoverished segments of the population, but it has not been tested on patients suffering from psychiatric ailments for its therapeutic value and imparting the right livelihood (samma aajeewa) skills to them.

The ambitious project which has been launched as a pilot project at the Mulleriyawa Mental Hospital was aimed at removing the social stigma associated with patients suffering from mental illness and to make them socially acceptable and productive citizens.

Home for employees

The produce; we are equally abled

Sales outlet

The Horticulture Therapy Training and Research Centre had been set up by Basic Needs - Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Health, as a partnership project in plot opposite the hospital.

Under the initial phase, the project was commenced with 20 inmates who had been categorized as 'homeless' patients as they were abandoned by their families.

It was imperative that in order to build self-confidence and decision making ability, these destitute patients should engage in some gainful activities which would not only restore them back to normalcy but also impart them with good values for their life time skills.

These skills would, in the long term help to generate income and facilitate speedy integration of patients into the mainstream society.

How horticulture helps patients?

When a person is suffering from mental illness for a prolonged period, without returning to his or her normal life or by living in an institution for many years, he or she becomes inactive and may lose self-confidence and ability to make decisions and to control any aspects of his or her life.

Horticultural Therapy is one of the rehabilitation tools that help them regain their lost abilities and self-confidence and thus speed up recovery.

Working in a garden, improves one's power of concentration, help learn new skills and a person becomes more socialised by working with a team and interacting with team members. Self-esteem and a sense of responsibility are improved by caring for plants.

Horticultural Therapy can be applied in different contexts; such as children with learning disabilities, elderly persons and prisoners and the refugees. This is also a kind of a meditation even practised in Zen tradition of Buddhism.

Sturdy progress

After taking over the allocated land, the project commenced in May 2003 with Angi from U.K, a voluntary officer from Basic Needs taking the lead while hospital assigned Sister Padmarani and two nurses help out with the project.

However, the expected cooperation did not come forth from the nurses as their Union objected to the project. In order to obtain supportive staff stuff, a group of young persons from the St. Johns Ambulance were trained and appointed to carry out the project.

As the project progressed, it was been pointed out that a certain percentage of the income generated should be distributed among the patients involved in the project. As the patients were 'homeless', the hospital intervened to open Postal Savings accounts books in their name, to save money.

Though the patients did not show any marked improvement during the initial stages, but as the project progressed, they gradually acquired their lost skills. After a year, some of the patients were in a position to be sent back home while others still remain. So far 30 patients have completely rehabilitated and integrated into society.

In 2005, the entire hospital staff was trained in horticultural therapy which, among other things, had changed the staff's perception on the concept of Therapy. One of the positive spill overs of this training was that the trained staff commenced horticultural activities in and around their wards.

The Therapy can be applied on Tsunami traumatized persons and those who are suffering from depression, as an effective antidote.

On the success of the training, it was further expanded to include nurses and staff from mental hospitals from other parts of the country. Another positive development was the building of three houses in a corner of the hospital for use of eight homeless patients who are still working for the project.

As any other worker who comes to work from his or her respective homes, these destitute patients come to the Centre from 'their' homes and work from 8.00 a.m to 4.00 p.m.

Their homes were ceremonially opened by the WHO Representative in Sri Lanka Dr. Bora, in 2006.According to Director Dr. Jayan Mendis, the hospital hopes to expand the project in collaboration with Basic Needs and the project incurs an annual expenditure of one million rupees and donors, partners or investors are invited to join the project.

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