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How plants are bringing healing to care patients
We shall now turn to the power of plants. For many people, a forest hike or spending time in the garden is a surefire way to relax. At medical and care institutions across Taiwan, the power of plants is well known, and is being used to improve the lives of patients. Today we visit a care home in New Taipei, where horticultural therapy helps residents cast their troubles away. We also see how virtual forest hikes bring joy to hospice patients at the end of their lives. Our Sunday special report.
Students try to tell what seeds are inside the shakers. This is the weekly horticultural therapy session at the Bali Ai-Hsin Home for Persons with Disabilities in New Taipei.
Today, the therapist is taking residents to experience spices and herbs through the five senses. They look at them, touch them, smell them and even have a taste.
The horticultural therapy program started in 2008 and has been running for more than 15 years. The past five years, the program has been led by Chang Po-jan.
Chang Po-jan
Horticultural therapist
They all have severe and extremely severe disabilities, or have multiple disabilities. Some of them can only communicate through facial expressions or by making sounds. Sometimes they move their eyes and that’s how you know whether they like something or not, if they are feeling happy or if something’s up.
Hsieh Hsin-ming
Bali Ai-Hsin Home for Persons with Disabilities
Our residents are interested in taking part in courses like this. They get very invested in them. So I think there should be more courses like this.
She opens the door to the garden and everyone rushes out to bask in the sunshine and be one with nature. Discarded hospital beds have been converted into planters, allowing wheelchair users to get up close with the greens.
Specially designed spades and gardening tools let residents with limited mobility have a go at turning over the soil and planting seeds.
Chang Po-jan
Horticultural therapist
They can put the seeds in this slide to slide them into the holes. That makes it easier to plant the seeds.
Watering the plants is a fun activity that is actually part of rehabilitation. This is what horticultural therapy is all about. Getting close to plants and tending them helps participants relax and relieve stress. This form of therapy has been popular internationally for many years. Therapists act as a bridge between humans and plants.
Chang Po-jan
Horticultural therapist
People often think that horticultural therapists do our jobs to heal others. But after being in this profession for a long time, we realize that we ourselves are being healed.
She maneuvers her wheelchair all around the garden, inspecting every plant. This is Lin Li-hsueh’s routine.
She’s lived in the home for 30 years, and she pours her heart into gardening.
Lin Li-hsueh
Bali Ai-Hsin Home for Persons with Disabilities resident
It’s kind of like taking care of a baby. You have to care for them, cherish them and tend to them patiently. I’m very happy. You realize that all your troubles aren’t actually troubles when you are immersed in gardening. I like being with my plants.
With muddy hands, Weng Yen-ju is having fun playing with the soil.
Weng Yen-ju
Bali Ai-Hsin Home for Persons with Disabilities resident
You can see how seeds become shoots and eventually bear fruit. To me, it is quite encouraging. No matter what you look like, or whether you can walk or not, you have your own life and a place to showcase your strengths. It reminds me not to give up.
Sunlight trickles through the thick foliage of towering trees.
Yu Chia-pin
NTU School of Forestry and Resource Conservation
At the beginning, I was feeling symptoms of depression after certain life events. When I got in touch with nature, it improved my physical and mental wellbeing.
Nature can soothe the soul, and that is something that NTU forestry professor Yu Chia-pin has experienced firsthand. Over the years, he has become an advocate and pioneer of forest therapy in Taiwan.
Yu Chia-pin
NTU School of Forestry and Resource Conservation
To a certain extent it’s about how the natural environment and leisure activities can boost health. When that’s taken into the forest, we refer to it as forest therapy.
Today, Yu has brought filming equipment up Yangmingshan to capture the landscape at Lengshuikeng.
On the tripod is a 360-degree spherical camera with six lenses to film the tranquility of the forest.
Yu Chia-pin
NTU School of Forestry and Resource Conservation
Nowadays we have advanced technology. You can watch the footage of this 360-degree camera live on your phone to check whether you like the scene or whether it suits your purposes. See? These are the images captured by the cameras from different angles. Of course, the better the image quality, the higher the resolution, and therefore the more immersive it feels. I take videos in 360 degrees, and record the sounds to get the full effect.
The healing power of forests has been proven by science.
Chen Chun-lin
Far Eastern Memorial Hospital psychiatrist
A medical study from 1984 found that patients who had undergone surgery recovered faster when they were put in hospital beds outside with greenery and trees. This has been known since the ’80s.
This class led by Yu isn’t just about virtual reality. It’s also about social responsibility, and how to use technology to bring the power of nature to more people.
Yu Chia-pin
NTU School of Forestry and Resource Conservation
The VR productions made by previous class participants have been used in many different places, for example the hospice ward at Far Eastern Memorial Hospital.
Most patients in hospice care have little physical strength, making a trip into nature a luxury they can’t afford. NTU’s forestry department brought VR into the ward to make their wishes come true.
Lin Hsin-i
Far Eastern Memorial Hospital counselor
After the patient put on the goggles, we created a breeze and used essential oils to give him the feeling that he was really in the forest. It’s 360 degrees, so it’s very immersive. It’s not like watching a video. You perceive the environment very directly.
Yu Chia-pin
NTU School of Forestry and Resource Conservation
The short escape from the hospital cheered him up a lot. It can really help with people’s physical and mental wellbeing. That’s what moved me the most.
At Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, the hospice ward has a secret garden, with more than 50 kinds of plants spread over 300 pings. This green oasis is where patients, their families and medical staff can take a breather. As long as the patient’s condition permits it, they can leave the ward and enjoy the bliss of nature without leaving the hospital.
Lin Hsin-i
Far Eastern Memorial Hospital counselor
Patients can be taken to the garden to spend time with people, with their families, and to reconnect with nature. That way they don’t feel like they are cooped up in their wards all the time.
The scent of flowers, the gentle breeze and the warm sun are a natural feast for the senses. For one cancer patient in particular, the garden was a major mood boost, especially paired with blowing bubbles into the air.
Some patients in hospice care are able to be discharged. But for others, the hospital is where they’ll spend their final days.
Lin Hsin-i
Far Eastern Memorial Hospital counselor
The patient’s condition had been deteriorating for some days. His daughter asked us whether we could let him pass away in the garden. That posed a big challenge for us, especially when it came to timing, as we didn’t know when he would pass. It so happened that the weather was good, so I told her we’d go out at noon. I brought him out and we pushed his bed outside. He appeared to be at peace, looking at the blue sky dotted with white clouds. I looked at his eyes. For me, seeing the reflection of the sky in his eyes is a precious moment I cherish.
Chen Chun-lin
Far Eastern Memorial Hospital
I advise everyone to have about 10 potted plants at home. Every day, before you go to work and after you come back home, you can spend 10 minutes checking on them. Just calm down and connect with the plants and the trees. It’s something that can help you wind down, and forget about all the rest.
Be it small potted plants at home or lush forests outside, nature is proven to bring peace of mind. So step outside, slow down and take it all in, to set aside the troubles of daily life.
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2024-04-07
