Vegetable Garden as Therapeutic Horticulture for Patients with Chronic Pain

Extract

Dear Editor,

Several studies have demonstrated the positive effect of horticulture therapy (HT) and therapeutic horticulture (TH) as adjunctive treatments for chronic pain, depression, and other mental and physical illnesses [1,2]. HT uses plants and plant-related activities in controlled, goal-oriented treatment sessions with a trained therapist. TH is more unstructured, using “plant-related activities through which participants strive to improve their well-being through active or passive involvement” [3]. Both have been shown to increase feelings of well-being, decrease depression, decrease loneliness, and give participants a sense of achievement [1,3]. Chronic pain patients who received HT sessions as part of an in-patient multidisciplinary program showed significant reductions in anxiety, distress, depression, and fatigue, an increase in physical and social activity and ability to manage their pain, and less overall stress compared with patients in the same multidisciplinary program who did not receive HT [4].

While both HT and TH have been shown to have positive effects on patient well-being, TH is easier to implement as it can be performed by a wider variety of individuals [2]. This letter focuses on the development of a vegetable garden as TH for patients at Geisinger Medical Center.