Spending time in the garden to boost wellbeing

Thanks to funding from the Trust’s charitable funds as well as the Friends of Barnsley Hospitals charity, therapy staff working at Mount Vernon hospital have established a therapy garden on the site.

The garden can be used by anyone currently staying at the hospital and includes a green house (that can be accessed in a wheelchair or even in a bed!), wheelchair accessible planting troughs and seating areas. People who want to spend time in the garden can plant flowers and vegetables or just sit on one of the benches and enjoy the peaceful, relaxing environment.

Paul McLaughlin, occupational therapy team leader said, “We have been really lucky with the support we’ve received from the Trust’s charitable funds, the hospital, local people and also local supermarkets who have donated tools, seeds and plants for us to use in the garden.

“We encourage people to come into the garden as it’s a great opportunity to encourage physical rehabilitation such as standing tolerance, leg and upper limb strength, balance, hand function and much more.

“Being outside and engaging in activity such as this can have a really positive impact on a person’s mental wellbeing as they are actively engaging in an activity, usually with others, in a relaxing and enjoyable environment.

“Often when people come to us they have been in hospital for weeks so this helps to relieve stress and anxiety and give patients some quality time.

Sometimes our patients just like to come into the garden to sit with their relatives and forget the stresses that a ward environment brings.”

The garden is currently in bloom and service users are regularly participating in activities to tend to the flowers and vegetables that are growing.

For more information about the gardening group at Mount Vernon hospital, contact Paul.mclaughlin@swyt.nhs.uk