FlorGuitronNavarro

Dr.Knepler
FRINQ:Portland
May152015

ThePowertoHealThroughGardens

Manyofuslosehopeattimesofdarkness.However,justlikeaplantneedssunlightto

growandsurfacefromtheearth,wetoocanfindoursunlightingardens.Canceristhesecond
leadingcauseofdeathintheUnitedStates.Peoplediagnosedwithcancerorevenothertypesof
diseaseareoftenfoundlostinaworldofsadnessanddepression.Hospitalsthroughoutthe
countryareadoptinganewwaytohelphealpatients,asidefromphysicallybutalsomentally.A
healinggardenaimstoimprovehealthoutcomes.Byimprovingpatientsmoodtheiroutlookcan
improveaswell.Hospitalsarelookingtodothisbyputtinggreenspaceinhospitals.Thisgreen
spacethenisusedasarefuge.Besides,beingarefugeforpatientsitpromoteshealingnotonlyin
patientsbuttheirfamiliesaswellasstaff.
Inthe19thcenturybiologistsLouisPasteurandClaudeBernarddevelopedthegerm
theoryofdisease.Thistheorythatdiseaseiscausedbypathogenicagentsandthatthehosts
resistanceandthegermsvirulencedeterminethediseasesseveritygavemedicinea
systematic,organizedandmuchmoresuccessfulwaytotreatandresearchdisease.(Lindheim&
Syme,1983)Thistheorydirectlyinfluencedthewaythathospitalswerebuilt.Theywerebuilt
withafocusondiseasetreatmentratherthanafocusonpatientcomfort.

IntheUnitedStates,newhospitalsorsubstantiallyremodeledstructuresarebeingbuilt
primarilytoreplaceoutdatedandtoserveareasofpopulationgrowth,asthehealthcare
marketplacehasbecomeincreasinglycompetitive.(Horsburgh,1995)However,insuch
competitivefieldadiscoverywasmadebyRogerUlrichin1984afterbeinghospitalized.The
studyconductedwaswhatisnowknownashealingenvironments.Beforethisfascinating
researchwasdone,hospitalswere...paintingwallsinsoothingcolorsandbuyinghighquality
gownsforthepatients,butbeinginthehospitalisstilldifficultforpatients.(Corder,2006)
Now,patientshavetheabilitytobesurroundedbyplants.
AspatientAliceKoch(2007)explainsYoucanloseyourselfinthegardeninsteadof
thinkingabouttheunfortunatethingsthathavehappenedtoyouinthehospitalThisisjustone
ofmanywaysinwhichpatientsbenefitfromhealinggardens.Throughtheblossomsofflowers,
patientshaveshowntopromotefasterrecoveryandshortenedhospitals.Witheveryseedplanted
inthehealinggarden,thereishopethatthegardenwillincreasetheeffectivenessofthe
treatmenttothepatient.Otherwaysinwhichpatientsbenefitfromthehealinggardensare
decreasedpain,andaremorelikelytobesatisfiedwithhospitalstaff.CooperMarcusandBarnes
(1999)haveindicatedpotentialhealingprocessesthatmaybesupportedbygardens,from
reducingstresstoachievingperspectivesaboutlifeanddeath.
Ahealinggardensmaingoalistodevelopaspaceinwhichpatientsfeelpeace,hope,joy,
amongmanyotherpositivefeelings.Ahealinggardenalsoaimstobeaplaceinwhichthe
hospitalsettingistransformed,andthehumanspiritisaddressed.As,Corder(2006)states
Doctorswhohavedifficultnewstodeliverwillaskfamilymemberstomeettheminthegarden
foracupofcoffee.Thegardenalsoaimstosupportfamiliestopositivelycopewithillness

amongotherfamilymembers.Healinggardensaren'tonlymeanttobeusedbypatientsbut
familyandstaffaswell.
Manytimeswetakeabeautifulsceneforgrantedoreventhetreeoutsideourhome.
However,formanypeoplebattlinglifethreateningillnessesoranysortofillnessthatoneplant,
tree,orgreenspacecanreallymakeadifference.Thenaturewetakeforgrantedmightbethe
strengthsomeoneelseneedstohelpthemfacebattle.BeinginahealinggardenasSusan
BauerWustatesItsaboutlife,notcancer(2005).Theprocessoflife,growth,andconstant
changeinagardenisthefoundationinwhichpatientscanhavefeelingsofsecurity,hope,and
life.

Citations
CooperMarcus,C.&Barnes,M.(1999).HealingGardens:
TherapeuticbenefitsandDesign
Recommendations.
NewYork:JohnWiley&Sons.pp.323
Peery,S.(2006).(APlaceof)HEALING.Yankee,70(4),7477.
Wallace,N.(2006).RooftopGardenOffersSanctuarytoHospitalPatients.
ChronicleOf
Philanthropy,18
(16),19.
Johnson,J.(2007).NatureistheBestMedicine.
GreenLivingWiththeEarthinMind,
4041
Lindheim,R.&Syme,S.L.(1983).Environments,people,andhealth.
AnnualReviewofPublic
Health,
4,335339
Horsburgh,C.R.Jr.(1995).Healingbydesign.
TheNewEnglandJournalofMedicine,333,
735740