To achieve my goals of mobility, exercise and socialisation skills, I would have to attend many sessions of different types of therapy per week. This would become time consuming and costly as I can no longer drive and travel by taxi or public transport.
Secondly:
Age barriers. Too young for senior citizens who have at this stage of life different values, different interests, and quite often different physical and emotional needs. Too old for 18+ programs. What and where does a 44 year old, who had been quite active, attend. Not that I do not enjoy talking to older persons or that I am not understanding of a person with a physical or intellectual disability.
Thirdly:
Does it really matter in a garden setting if one cannot bend to pull out weeds, if one has no visual stimulation, if one cannot communicate verbally, or if one cannot remember the name of a plant or flower or what he/she was going to do next.
Finally:
Who wants to be regimented? To perform the same tasks and routines repetitively as one does at physiotherapy. To make innane handcrafts as one does in occupational therapy to occupy one's mind or to improve one's fine motor skills.
The physical demands in horticultural therapy are varied and many and challenging. (Exercise for one's well being plays an important role in all health care.) In gardening, exercise may be as gentle as sitting down at a table potting seeds/seedlings or quite strenuous as pushing a wheelbarrow or digging up a garden bed. Walking as you water with a hose in the garden is another form of exercise. Participation is the key factor not the form of exercise or the amount of energy expended.
Following a major change in lifestyle, be it due to age, retirement, illness, disease of injury; psychological behaviour may be displayed in various ways. The person who may not be able to communicate verbally due to word disassociation or a language barrier, may become frustrated, the more they try the more apparent the frustration, the frustration turns to anger. Is there not some other way to channel this anger? Let them show you what they want or how they feel in their own way. Everybody needs emotional support and who better than people with a common goal and who understand what frustration means.
Allow people to be themselves. Give them time to accept the change in their lives. Psychological support can be offered in many ways.
Motivation plays a major role in self esteem. If self esteem is low, one is not motivated to achieve personal satisfaction. If one is only sitting down observing others at work or in conversation, eventually one will find a conversation or a topic that they are interested in or feel comfortable with and slowly but surely they will participate. This participation will slowly increase with gentle encouragement. Just attending a horticultural therapy centre for many people is motivation as one must prepare in bathing, dressing and daily routines become challenged.
Socialising plays an integral role. How often have you been busy in your own garden, when a neighbour walking by stops for a chat? Well! It is the same at horticultural therapy. No one is an expert in all aspects of gardening or garden activities. As a group, many ideas may make a simple task easier. Self development is increased as we gather together to sit for a meal, to compare what others have achieved since their last meeting, to enquire about their lives and family. What they have been doing undoubtedly promotes one to socialise just by responding to these simple questions. When participating, one may require assistance with a certain task and others will unselfishly assist with these tasks, enabling one to complete their goals.
When it was first mentioned that I may wish to attend a horticultural therapy centre I was apprehensive, frightened, scared how would I cope? How would I interact in a new environment with people I did not know? How would they understand my multiple health related issues. Would others accept my visual disabilities in a garden setting? Could I cope physically and emotionally with this type of therapy? Could I tolerate the extremes in weather changes?
(As I cannot tolerate the cold weather). What would happen if I became too tired? What or how would I tolerate others with a disability?
My sister and family said "well, why not give it a try" as she was keen to have me participating in some form of therapy and stimulation.
Well, my first day arrived. I was like a small child going to school for the first day. I had no security blanket. I had no mother to hold my hand. To find the entrance myself (Butterflies not only flying in the air but also in the pit of my stomach).
Margaret (the coordinator) was waiting for me when I arrived by taxi. What a major relief. After many introductions and the proverbial cup of coffee, the grand tour and the aims and objectives of horticultural therapy at the Ilma Lever Garden Centre began.
At this stage my mind boggled. I could handle this, what a breeze. To sit down and work in a garden, to have someone to guide me in what I was doing. To talk with other people who had experienced the same difficulties, frustrations and fears as myself.
I began my rehabilitation as I call it. What a joy it felt to become motivated and active again. To be able to feel that once again I would be able to achieve something worthwhile. My fellow gardeners are my eyes, they assist me with direction, where to find tools etc. A learning curve for all of us.
Physically, I soon learnt my capabilities. I know I cannot dig with a shovel, but I can sit on the ground and dig with an adapted shovel or fork. I can prepare a bed that is elevated, I can plant vegetables and flowers. With guidance I can pull out weeds ( many a small plant pulled out by mistake).
To sit and talk when I feel I have achieved my limits, to laugh about our mistakes, to assist others who cannot perform certain tasks unaided, I felt once again there were somethings I could achieve.
To plant a tiny seed and watch it grow (yes, I say watch as we not only see with our eyes), to smell the grass, to smell the flowers that one has nurtured from a seed. What a joy.
I have gained knowledge in a few associated handcrafts such as flower pressing, flower arranging and the drying of flowers for pot pourri, which I now adapt and convert into small gifts.
Stimulation, physical and psychologically has improved my knowledge and self esteem. I am no longer afraid to speak out if I disagree, no longer apprehensive to attempt a project by myself. NO LONGER PREPARED TO SIT AT HOME AND DO NOTHING.
I am now a person who enjoys gardening. Learning about flowers and plants has put an interest into what was once a boring chore. The camaraderie of my group, the caring, helping learning attitudes it has brought together a small group with a common bond.
I look forward to my Thursdays and it has inspired me to improve my own garden. To get up and have a go. Who cares if I make a mistake. Who cares if my garden is not perfect. I don't. Do you?
I take this opportunity to thank all the people involved with the Ilma Lever Garden Centre programs and would like to recite this poem that I have composed called "Challenges".
I dedicate this poem to my sister Barbara
