Residents at Rosewood Manor are getting their hands dirty this summer in a bid to feel better about life - naturally.
Thanks to some volunteer work by employees at Home Depot, the seniors' residential care home has added two, new raised garden beds in its courtyard, thus facilitating an added, convenient outdoor activity for residents, most of whom have limited mobility.
"These (garden beds) allow our residents to stand or sit in their wheelchair and get their hands dirty. It's therapeutic," explained Katherine Perez, Rosewood's special project manager.
Outside, next to the dining room, is one bed with several tomato plants already sprouting many varieties of the fruit. In another courtyard, a bed with herbs, flowers and some lettuce is growing. The volunteers donated the plants as well.
The garden beds are part of a voluntary provincial program - Call for Less Antipsychotics in Residential Care (CLEAR) - that aims to reduce the number of seniors in residential care on antipsychotic medications by 50 per cent.
"Believe it or not, this non-pharmaceutical intervention has helped decrease the anxiety of some of our residents, resulting in the decrease of anti-psychotics," said Perez.
Other initiatives include music classes and hand massages with essential oils, she noted.
Drugs tend to make residents feel sleepy, dopey, and lethargic, said Perez.
"We are taking a different route and noticing amazing results," she said.
Presently, on average, about 35 per cent of seniors in Canadian residential care are prescribed antipsychotic medications, according to the CLEAR website.
