Residents at the ValleyView Residence will be able to reconnect with the nature of their youth after the aged care facility installed some new garden plots.
The facility partnered with Alzheimers WA and Pint Sized Plots to install seven gardens, specifically filled with a wide range of stimulating plants and raised to be easily accessible for the residents.
ValleyView Residence Corporate Services Manager Stacey Pike said the gardens have been a huge success with the residents living with dementia.
“It enables them to do something that they would normally do at home. They can wander around freely, smelling and touching the gardens,” she said.
“The residents really enjoy [the gardens]. They love going outside and watching the plants grow, as much as touching and feeling and smelling them.”
The initiative follows a trend in aged care where gardening is used to improve the quality of life of patients living with dementia, by stimulating their minds and memories.
ValleyView Residence was able to install the plots through funding from Alzheimers WA, while Pint Sized Plots donated labour to get the gardens up and running.
“We are so glad to have partnered with Pint Sized Plots and Alzheimers WA on this wonderful project,” Ms Pike said.
“We also really appreciate the generous donation of labour and materials from Pint Sized Plots otherwise this project just wouldn’t have happened.”