Gardening is good for the soul! Simply getting outdoors and digging in the earth, planting seeds, watering, and watching plants blossom and yield flowers, fruits and vegetables can be beneficial for everyone, including people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
Horticulture Therapy professionals believes that therapeutic gardening has an important place is the care and treatment of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Some of the benefits are cognitive, physical and mental/emotional:
- Enhance cognitive functioning
- Promote physical health
- Improve concentration
- Prompt memories
- Help social interaction
- Increase self-esteem
- Reduce stress and help with anxiety
- Decrease depression
- Give participants a sense of accomplishment
Aspen Activity Days at the Taylorsville Senior Center has seen this happen first hand!
They started a garden in April and had everyone participate in preparing the soil, planting the seeds, watering, nourishing and weeding the plants. They have grown a beautiful garden and you can see how much they have enjoyed it. They even made chili for lunch last week with vegetables from the garden!
Aspen has an Activity Day Program in Salt Lake City and an Adult Day Center in Provo where families who have loved ones with dementia can take drop them off for the day and know that they will be well cared for and participate in activities they will enjoy and feel connected to others. To see more of what benefits these programs have to offer visit www.aspenseniorcenter.org and Aspen Activity Days or call us at 801-224-5910.