Garden Route Therapy

As of August, the Alberta Children’s Hospital has hired my fellow classmate, from the Home Farm Horticultural Therapy Certificate, Rebecca Feasby, as a horticultural therapist.  Rebecca is currently working with the Impatient Group Program, Nephrology Clinic and the Dr. Gordon Townsend School on site. The work is part of a larger Therapeutic Arts Program that includes Music Therapy, Art Therapy and Horticultural Therapy.

Last Friday, before the CHTA Annual Conference, I was toured around the hospital by Becky, with Gwenn Fried from the Glass Garden at the Rusk Institute in New York.  We had a lot of fun preparing Greek salad, with students from the school, using fresh herbs from the raised containers (above) and the creative juices were visibly flowing in the Nephrology Clinic as patients began designing a future outdoor garden space.  The Children’s Orchard, right on hospital property, provided a tasty afternoon treat.