Healing gardens are becoming more and more popular as ways to help patients reduce stress, feel at ease and actually improve recovery rates and shorten hospital stays.
"Roger Ulrich was one of the first to promote a patients
"View through a window..." can effect patient outcome - patients had fewer negative evaluative comments, took less medicine and averaged a day quicker post-operative recovery stays. His influential work in the early 80's has been
cited thousands of times and continues to influence healthcare facility design.
Some of the documented benefits of Healing Gardens include:
•Shorter post-operative stays
•Less use of potent drugs
•Better attitudes
•Contribute to feelings of:
-wholeness & health
-calm, relaxed
-the ability to think & cope
-being refreshed
-improved strength
More and more hospitals are adding healing gardens, especially for their Oncology and Alzheimer care units."
I am thrilled to be working on one in Des Moines and am incorporating many permaculture principles.
http://abundantdesigniowa.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-power-of-healing-gardens.html