Season of Giving: Horticultural Therapy Edition

The weeks between Thanksgiving and the New Year are known by a lot of names. It’s been called the season of light, the holidays, the most wonderful time of the year. But here at Magee, we like to think of this time as the Season of Giving. Throughout the month of December, we’re going to spotlight programs and successes that are only achievable through your charitable support. We’ll show you just how your support helps us support our patients and community.

Last week, we told you all about art therapy and how you can ensure it continues to help patients for years to come. Today, we want to tell you more about another creative alternative therapy: horticultural therapy.

Donations at Work - Horticulture TherapyOur Horticultural Therapy program uses plants, gardens, nature crafts and gardening activities to provide therapeutic and rehabilitation outcomes, similar to art therapy. Tending a plant not only offers physical benefits, such as increasing strength, improving range of motion and honing fine motor skills, but it also helps relieve the pressures and stresses of everyday life. The plants aren’t judgmental, and they don’t discriminate.  Magee is the only rehabilitation hospital in Center City with a direct horticultural therapy program that provides a rooftop greenhouse – which is always full of patients and their families enjoying the greenery and the sunlight.

When patients arrive and begin horticultural therapy, they pot a plant and keep it in the greenhouse. As they progress and grow through their rehabilitation, so does the plant. By the time they leave, they have something beautiful to take home, a tangible representation of their time at Magee.

But don’t just take it from us. Here’s what some of the participants had to say.

“Horticultural therapy relaxes you. You feel as if you really accomplished something.”

“Being close to nature helps healing”

“Good for my fingers and hands working together”

“It takes your mind off of pain and allows you to do something pleasant.”

“Accessible tools made it possible for me to garden.”

“It’s nice to make something to remember my stay at Magee.”

You can learn more one patient’s experience with horticultural therapy in the video below. A donation to Magee will help ensure horticultural therapy and programs like it are available to patients like Lisa today and for years to come. Click here to make your gift today.

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