Path Three is designed to target six clients whose developmental and physical disability requires that they receive extensive volunteer and professional support. We will use the growing and caring for plants and plant related activities in a therapeutic way for individuals that need closer supervision and assistance in their daily activities.
Horticultural therapy has been used as an innovative treatment method using plants and plant-related activities to improve the social, educational, psychological, and physical adjustment of an individual, thus improving his/her body, mind and spirit. Horticultural therapy has been used to improve mobility, balance, endurance, socialization and memory skills.
PATH THREE
Learning Objectives:
• To stress the sensory experience for the client
• To teach and reinforce by repetition some of the basic tasks and duties of running a greenhouse, caring for a garden, or other business
Work responsibilities:
• Daily routines such as cleaning and watering of plants
• Showing the importance of plants to the regular maintenance of the growing space
• Following directions, using either repetition or hand over hand assistance in getting tasks completed
How to work in teams:
• Working with others to create a more efficient result
• Responsibilities of each team member
Respect in the work place:
• Interactions with co workers, the staff and the public
How to experience the pleasures of the plant growing environment, such as touch and smell
• Explore the different scents of flowers and foliage, and what might be pleasant or offensive to different people
• Feel different textures, try to determine their differences and whether or not the experience is pleasant or not
Practical exercises:
• Provide a daily routine that is consistent for a period of days/weeks
• A daily period of exploration where client will experience the smells and touches of safe plants
• Implement a task that you may want a client to try and master, and have them practice it every day to try to learn it
• If possible, allow client some independence in working a task, and record how he/she does
• Stress to the client how their care for a particular plant or group of plants, or area of the growing space that they have kept tidy, has helped the operation be successful
