Therapy by Natureand for NatureRadka Svobodova

Representation of the South

Moravian region to the EU

ERRIN WG Health 29th June 2017

Mental health and well-being

Lipka - school facilityfor environmentaleducationLipová 20, 602 00 Brno

www.lipka.cz/zahrady

Projects managers of the

garden therapy:

Ms Dana Křivánková

dana.krivankova(at)lipka.cz

Ms Dana Nováková

dana.novakova(at)lipka.cz

How is Lipka helpful?

The Elderly with

Grandchildren Club

Female Elderly Club GB

(Grannies from Brno)

Summer suburban camps

for the elderly

The Mothers with Children

Club

Periodic events for whole

families and all generations

It provides everyday education for various age

groups!

Ambulatory Garden therapy

at Lipka centre for other

organisations‘ clients

Mandragora Club – for the parents of

children suffering from autistic spectre

disorders – in cooperation with APLA

association

Garden therapy for psychotic clients –

cooperation with PRÁH organisation

Garden therapy for patients with cured

addiction problems – cooperation with

LOTOS organisation

GARDEN THERAPY A treatment, therapy and relaxation through contact with

nature in the garden

Instruments of therapy – plants, gardening activities

It helps

1. To speed up the healing process

2. To maintain motoric, mental and self-service functions of

patients with degenerative illnesses

Why even take interest in garden

therapy?Multiplication effect of garden therapy

A broad range of possible application

Health care and social

services: Nature as a

therapy, relaxation, self-

knowledge

Education and upbringing:

Teaching through

experience, observing

natural processes, inclusion

Healthy lifestyle: Natural

physical activity, creativity

Ecological benefits:

Gardens as natural

biocenters/biocorridors

Where garden therapy helps Aging population

Increasing population with psychiatric illnesses

Increase in children with specific educational needs and

behaviour disorders

Unemployment amongst people with specific needs

Unemployment in rural areas

Lack of green spaces in fields

Garden therapy = effective helper

Allows to effectively alleviate problems and to reduce their effects

Garden therapy in healthcare 1

A Strategy of psychiatric care reform

Declaration of support for development of a whole spectrum of

effective healing methods, including innovative therapeutic

approaches Linkage to specific strategic goals

and proposed measures

Support for humanisation of

psychiatric care

Increased success in inclusion of

mentally handicapped into

society

Broader involvement of the

mentally handicapped and their

families in the therapeutic

processes

Linkage to social care services

Garden therapy may be successfully applied to:

Treatment of anxiety disorders,

schizophrenia, affective disorders,

personality disorders, mood

disorders, etc.

Treatment of dementia and

Alzheimer‘s disease

Treatment of addictions

Palliative care

A great importance of garden

therapy found in the care for

autism patients and autistic

spectrum disorder patients

Garden therapy in healthcare 2

Garden therapy in social services 1 Gardens are a natural environment for exercise, socialising, leisure time

and therapeutic activities, rehabilitation, cultural activities

Garden therapy is an activation service, means of memory training, a form of ergotherapy and artetherapy, an opportunity for inter-

generational family activities, training of work skills, development of

fine motor skills

The best application of garden

therapy

Retirement homes

Care homes for the

handicapped

Respite care homes

Social therapeutic workshops

Therapeutic communities

Halfway houses

Homes of assisted living

Plan for development of social services in the SMR (2015-

2017)

Strategy of transformation of social services for the

handicapped in the SMR (2014 - 2020)

General trend = deinstitutionalisation

Offering the handicapped/elderly comparable conditions

for life as their healthy peers

Main principles:

Promoting the policy of social inclusion of the

handicapped in the population

A broad offer of following facility-related and field

services (especially activation services)

Fostering work habits amongst the handicapped

Garden therapy in social services 2

An opportunity for

children with learning and

behaviour disorders

Training of positive mutual

interactions between

children

Stress relief, relaxation,

calming effects

Excess energy release,

exercising in nature

Overlapping with other

subjects

Garden therapy and social inclusion

Indoor garden therapy (IGT)

Most relevant application of

IGT

Retirement homes

Hospices

Rehabilitation institutes

Hospital wards: paediatric,

psychiatric, oncology,

orthopaedic

Psychiatric health centres

Homes with a special

regime and homes for the

disabled

PROJECT

example 1:

CZ-AT Garden

therapy

Garden therapies - social

inclusion and inclusion through

garden-therapeutic measures

and activations Pilot in the CZ

Feb 2012 – Aug 2014

Activities: Study visits, Education seminars,

Building additional infrastructure, New

programs in therapeutical gardens,

Publications

PROJECT

example 2:

Therapy by

Nature and for

Nature

The Therapy by Nature and for Nature project isfunded by the National Fund for the Environment and the Ministry of the Environment

Aims of the project

Creation of new therapeutic gardens and a “floramobile" (1)

A complex variety of educational activities in the field of garden therapy (2)

Inclusion of garden therapy into the national and regional strategic concepts (3)

Nov 2015 – Oct 2017

(1) New therapeutic gardensHome for peaceful aging, Kamenná st., Brno

New therapeutic gardensPrimary school Velká Bíteš, Tišnovská st.

Primary school

for children with

specific needs

A heightened

“African"

garden patch

Floramobile = an opportunity for bedridden patients

Floramobile – a chance for the future

Floramobile

A mobile garden patch for indoor garden therapy

Tested in the Home for peaceful aging, Kamenná st.Brno

Available for sale or rent since Autumn 2017

Will arrive directly to the patient‘s bed

Gardening, aromatherapy, art therapy, ergo therapy directly in bed

Tailored to the needs of Czech users

A prototype being tested free of charge in various facilities, tending especially to the elderly

Based on this experience, the prototype will be customized and a new version introduced at a Conference on garden therapy (20/9/17)

Floramobile – a chance for the future

Auditing of standing gardens and evaluation of their

potential for garden therapy

Counselling

Designing new therapeutic gardens

Oversight of garden

building

How to apply garden

therapy in practice

Applying indoor garden

therapy

(2) Garden therapy educationSpace for Garden Therapy course

A course for social workers, health professionals, therapists and pedagogues

4 hands-on seminars

2 field excursions

Seminars for specific target groups

One-day seminars introducing garden therapy to

selected groups:

Pedagogues, assistants, tutors

Employees of health and social facilities

National and regional representatives

Garden therapy education

Publishing of vocational publications

How Garden Heals

More than 30 suggestions for garden therapy

Sensual activation, improving motor skills, mitigation of unpleasant behaviour, improving attention and relaxation

Gardens on the Kamenná street

Manual for Founding of Therapeutic Gardens

Garden therapy education

Lipka helped garden therapy to be included in:

National program for environmental education EVVO and for environmental counceling for years 2016 – 2025

Long-term interests of education and improvingeducational system of the South Moravian Region in years 2016 – 2020

The first regional action plan for improving education in the South Moravian Region, released in 2016

(3) Garden therapy in regions

HOW GARDEN THERAPY HELPS IN

FULFILLING THE KEY STRATEGIES OF REGIONS

Long-term goal of education and improving the educational system of SMR(2016 – 2020)

Specific goal B.1.c Supporting polytechnic education including EVVO and educationfor sustainable development, provision 1c8

GARDEN THERAPY AND INCLUSION

1. Regional action plan for development of education in SMR (08/2016)

II.B5. General goal Using school grounds as functional natural gardens, placesfor learning and for garden therapy

Secondary goal II.B5.1 Primary schools and secondary schools will harness thebeneficial effects of garden therapy for the development of skills of studentswith specific learning needs, their activation, stimulation and calming

▪ Supporting competences for activities, initiative and creativity

▪ School staff … include programs such as Garden Therapy: Plants and Gardening Works into curriculums as therapeutic means especially forchildren with specific learning needs

▪ Supporting quality education of teachers and other workers in the field ofgarden therapy, creation of garden therapy educational programs forindividual target groups, support of reconstruction of standing groundsand gardens with an emphasis on filling the structures required for GT

GARDEN THERAPY WITHIN NATIONAL FRAMEWORKS EVVO AND EP 2016 - 2025

Strategic area 2 Quality, diversity and innovation in EVVO and EPTarget 2.6 (New directions)

Within EVVO and EP, new ideas, innovative approaches, new solutions, alternatives, creativity, experimenting, searching and exploring newdirections are being purposefully supprted

Implementation of programs focused on interconnecting EVVO and EP with otherareas – f.e. social and health care – workwith the elderly, the handicapped and other disadvanteged social groups, such as the programs in the field of garden therapy

Strategic area 5 Education goals and topics relevant to EVVO and EP

Target 5.2 (Nature)

Legislation and societal currents support the direct contact of children/adultswith the nature, field education in the contact with the nature is defined and supported as a full-fledged and essential means of education in the schools ofall grades and other educational facilities, and conditions for this have beencreated

Measure 5.2.7 To support connecting EVVO and EP with concepts focused on education in contact with the nature, education of individual components ofthe environment, mediation of natural values of the given area and a motivation for their direct cognition – through f.e. nursing school in thenature, interpretation of natural and cultural heritage, … forestry and gardening pedagogy, zoopedagogy, garden therapy.

GARDEN THERAPY WITHIN NATIONAL FRAMEWORKS EVVO AND EP 2016 - 2025

POSSIBILITIES IN THE FIELD OF DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND EMPLOYMENT

Social agriculture▪ Developed until 2014 under the supervision

of Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Rep.▪ Joining employment, rehabilitation,

therapeutic programs including garden therapy, leisure time and educationalactivities

▪ Offering employment to people with specificneeds, the socially excluded, people in therisk of unemployment

Garden therapy as a form of work training▪ Assisted employment▪ Working in respite care homes

PROJECT

example 3:

Therapy

through nature

Therapy through nature –

Through nature to a

common understanding 2017 – 2019

Partners: Henry Doubleday Research Association (UK), SOSNA (SK), Co.M.P.A.S.S. Social Cooperative Society ONLUS (IT), Fundación Global Nature (ES), Universidadenova de Lisboa (PT)

Aims: garden therapy organizations network, European platform for education of garden and nature therapeuts

Future events

Field excursion Wandering Bus, September 21st 2017:

One-day excursion for regional and national

representatives to various therapeutic gardens in the

Czech Republic

Conference on Garden Therapy, Sep 20th 2017, Brno

Benefits of garden therapy – examples and good practices

Conclusion 1: Back to the roots, natural therapeutic effect of

the nature

Garden therapy: bigger bang for a buck

Broad possibilities of application

Conclusion 2:

Plans for the future

To develop education in the field of garden therapy and further promote GT in the public and academia

To continue in building a network of facilities employing GT in the CR

To found an Association of Garden Therapists in the Czech Rep.

To continue in the international cooperation, to make new contacts to exchange experience and good practice, partake in educational system within the framework of European structures (Erasmus +)

Lipka - school facility forenvironmental educationLipová 20, 602 00 Brno

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

Radka SvobodovaRepresentation of the SouthMoravian to the EUPlace de Jamblinne de Meux 31BrusselsSvobodova.radka@kjmk.euhttp://www.kjmk.eu/en/