People-Plant Council Symposium Abstracts...healing dimensions

These abstracts are proceedings from the third People-Plant Council symposium, published in THE HEALING DIMENSIONS OF PEOPLE-PLANT RELATIONS. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors. Available for $35 plus shipping and handling through the Office of Consumer Horticulture, 407 Saunders Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0327. See BOOKS AVAILABLE form for ordering information.

AU: Berge, Barbara and Lohr, Virginia I.
DT: 1994.
TI: Landscape Preferences and Stress Responses of Ethnically Diverse Adolescents
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: Studies have begun to establish the effects plants have on human emotional and physical well-being. Few studies have looked at adolescents or people of different ethnic heritages. This study specifically looked at the preferences and responses of Hispanic and Anglo adolescents. Students were shown a series of urban-dominated slides or a series of plant- dominated slides. Student's feelings were reported before and after viewing these slide series. Preference was recorded after each slide. We found, among other results, that adolescents reported feeling less "joyful or pleased" and more "like getting out of this situation" after seeing scenes with vegetation. These subjects felt less "like acting friendly or affectionately," yet less "fearful" and less "like hurting..someone," after viewing urban scenes. Both Anglo and Hispanic student preferred the plant-dominated scenes over the urban scenes. Hispanic students gave significantly higher ratings than did Anglos to human-dominated landscapes, such as formal gardens, while Anglos rated natural scenes, such as woods, higher than did Hispanics.

AU: Boyle, Richard P.
DT: 1994.
TI: Cultural World Views and the Effects of People/Plant Interaction
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: People/plant interaction is often observed to have beneficial effects on the people involved, but researchers interested in studying these effects face a number of problems. One source of problems is the difficulty involved in trying to measure the effects, that is, the way people are changed during the process of interaction with plants. This paper summarizes a theoretical system developed by the anthropologist Mary Douglas (1978) which proposes four basic world views, or perspectives on life, describes briefly the methods and measures several of us at the University of New Mexico have developed for investigating her ideas, and notes some possible applications of this approach to people/plant interaction. For purposes of understanding or doing research on people/plant interaction, the theory presented here offers a theoretical framework and a set of concepts for which a variety of measurement methodologies have been developed. These methods could be used to study either why people choose to engage in the various activities have on people. This paper concentrates on the kind of structured items that can be included in a survey questionnair, and shows how these items can be used to investigate different aspects of a world view.

AU: Cecchettini, Christina L. and Goldman, Dr. Barbara G.
DT: 1994.
TI: A Case Study of Horticultural Therapy for Adults with Developmental Disabilities: Methodological Issues
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: This field of research project was an investigation of a novel human service agency which utilizes horticultural therapy to rehabilitate and train adults who are severely developmentally disabled. The agency was unique because is combines a nursery operation and a workday program. The research goals were to examine how the agency utilized horticultural therapy to vocationally train and rehabilitate participants and to examine how the nursery operation was integrated into the agency's programs. The research methodologies used included participant observation, formal and informal interviews, and examination of written materials. The utility of the research methods will be discussed, focusing in particular on the following topics: 1)the necessity of participant observation when a significant number of program participants are non-verbal, 2)participant observation as a source of generating survey questions, increasing reliability of surveys, 3)the use of multiple methodologies for triangulation of data to increase the validity of research findings, 4)the value of education and experience in both the sciences and social sciences when conducting research on plant-people relations. This discussion will focus on the effectiveness and difficulties encountered using these approached to study horticultural therapy.

AU: Craig, Kathleen A.
DT: 1994.
TI: Teaching Gardening to the Blind as Therapy
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: In 1988 I volunteered as a Master Gardener to develop a pilot gardening program for blind adults for the Peninsula Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired (PCB) in Palo Alto, California. PCB social workers, in their client intake interviews, had noted that a significant number on individuals reported feelings of loss due to their perceived inability to garden in their homes. This was especially significant since, for many, their home became the only "safe" place for them. It was anticipated that a client, taught to manage a garden, would develop self-esteem and confidence which would help them expand their activities into other areas. Prior to the activity discussed in this paper, PCB had no group classes; all of their services were offered as one-on- one activities by highly trained PCB staff and typically at or near the client's home. A large area is serviced by the agency(San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties), so a centrally located class activity, headed by one staff member, suggested the potential to greatly reduce the travel burden and service many more clients within PCB budget constraints. At this time PCB was restructuring to become a fee-for-services agency and income limitations of the majority of their clients required that fees be kept at a minimum with many students' fees waived. These limited resources required that much of the material to establish and teach the class had to be obtained by contributions. An agreement was reached wherein I would develop and teach a hands-on class in gardening and PCB would supply the clients, the transportation, and the necessary institutional support. The resulting class meets weekly during two sessions each year. The classes are held at a dedicated, centrally located, teaching-garden name, appropriately, the New Horizons garden. There have been 9 or 10 clients at each session. Non-specialist volunteers are used to supply hands- on support for the class activities. Gardening as a therapeutic vehicle for sight-impaired adults is not a new concept. Indeed, the entire first issue of the publication HortTherapy (1979) is dedicated to this topic. It contains several papers which include the topic history, the physiology of blindness and its psychological impact, "how- to" suggestions regarding plant material, tools, garden layouts, techniques and cautions. In addition, this publication and many other publications contain persuasive argument for the value of horticulture therapy to visually impaired individuals. Publications by Fox and Burriss (1977), Fleet (1982), and Gilheath (1976) contain useful information on how to set up a garden for the blind, techniques for operation, materials, and methods. These publications form an extensive reference list for anyone wanting to develop a broader understanding of this topic. (more in book)

AU: Dotter, John
DT: 1994.
TI: Cross-Cultural Community Development in Ethnically Diverse Community Gardens of San Jose, California
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: This paper documents and analyzes the ethnic composition, economic status, educational background, and horticultural expertise of a representative sample of gardeners from 16 sites on 30 acres in San Jose, California. It investigates neighborhood relationships held by gardeners who live close to their community gardens. Taped interview are used to determine the scope and frequency of cross-cultural interaction while working and recreating in their respective gardens. Ethnic diversity in San Jose, and its presence in community gardens, has increased significantly since the late seventies. New statistics have potential value for park planners, government officials and social services which utilize volunteer staffing and can operate with limited annual costs. San Jose Community Gardens are shown to be places where persons of diverse backgrounds relate to one another in mutually beneficial ways. Community garden program management recommendations are made that focus on encouragement of inter-cultural understanding and cooperation through horticultural activities in public garden programs. The findings and recommendations are the result of more than 20 years experience with community gardening in Northern California.

AU: Gaston, Donald A.
DT: 1994.
TI: Environmental Arts Education Program
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: Building on information gained from the first People/Plant Symposium in 1990, I began a course of action aimed at how we can educate and involve children to appreciate and respect our environment, in order that they could expect a healthier quality of life as they grow older.

AU: Goodwin, Georgia K., Pearson-Mims, Caroline H. and Lohr, Virginia I.
DT: 1994.
TI: The Impact of Adding Interior Plants to a Stressful Setting
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: Plants of varying sizes and species were added to a stark college computer lab to determine the effect of the plants on air quality and on human psychological and physiological responses. Relative humidity and particulate matter were monitored in the presence and absence of plants. The average relative humidity was higher when plants were present than when they were not. The increase was small, but tended to improve the air quality for people using the room. Particulate matter did not increase in the presence of plants. The following human psychological and physiological responses ere measured: mental fatigue, blood pressure, emotions, error rate on a computer task, and response time on a computer task. Results indicated that the presence of plants may have contributed a calming influence among some of the subjects, but on some measures, people reported feeling worse in the presence of plants. Reaction time on the computer task was quicker in the presence of plant than in their absence.

AU: Hlubik, William T., Hamm, Michael W., Winokur, Marc A., & Baron, Monique V.
DT: 1994.
TI: Incorporating Research with Community Gardens: The New Brunswick Community Gardening & Nutrition Program
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: The New Brunswick Community Gardening & Nutrition Program integrates hands-on horticulture and nutrition education into a self-sustaining urban gardening program for the residents of three public housing communities in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The program has been successful in involving families, for whom food cost is often a primary factor in food choice, in a local initiative to ensure a more nutritious food supply. In order to develop an understanding of program impact, ensure long-term financial and technical support, and provide a rationale for other communities planning to establish similar programs, a quantitative survey was incorporated into the initial design of these community gardens. This model research approach was designed by a multi- disciplinary team of experts in the fields of nutrition, horticulture, sociology, psychology, and community development. The purpose is to evaluate the people-plant connection in the areas of sense of community, sociability, self-esteem, community attitudes and nutritional behavior and knowledge. The first year of survey administration was based on three key principles: 1)Development of an immediate community relationship founded in honesty, trust, and mutual respect. This relationship enables consistent community cooperation in all facets of research and program administration. 2)Implementation of the gardening and nutrition program as the driving force. Integration of the research approach derives from this program objective 3)Flexibility and sensitivity in administering the survey by adapting it to community needs and program growth, while still maintaining the validity of the research. This community relationship and flexibility in survey implementation has resulted in the formulation of a more comprehensive research approach for this coming year. Qualitative data from informal interviews, field observations, and video & photographic documentation will supplement the quantitative data from the statistical survey by exploring the cultural and interpersonal dynamics of the community gardening program. Preliminary findings from the first year of survey administration will be used to refine the sensitivity of the survey model for the 1994 survey. (more in book)

AU: Hoover, Robert C.
DT: 1994.
TI: Healing Gardens and Alzheimer's Disease
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: This paper is about remembrance therapy and the design of gardens for Alzheimer's disease facilities. Sedgewood Commons, a residential facility of this type, is used as a case study to introduce remembrance therapy as a planning and design methodology from which gardens for Alzheimer's disease facilities can be designed. How can we as designers create landscapes and gardens that respond to the wide range and oftentimes conflicting needs of the individual with Alzheimer's disease? Certainly there is much design information and objective research data available on the subject of architecture and its interiors. There are, however, very little data available for the design of exterior spaces. At present, a general set of standards often referred to a s design guidelines and a listing of disease characteristics are all that is available. It is to these guidelines and disease characteristics that designers turn. It is generally recognized that a wide range of needs exist among individuals with Alzheimer's disease. It is also recognized that those needs are often in direct conflict with one another. For example, what might be considered stimulating for one person might be stressful for another. No one really seems to know how people with Alzheimer's disease experience their outdoor world. What do they want? What is their reality? Is landscape even important to them? Because the answers to these questions evade us, no one really seems to know how to design outdoor environments that move beyond the present collection of conflicting design guidelines. As a result, our present-day design process produces gardens that are devoid of a larger organizing principal, that appear to be nothing more than a collection of design guidelines, and, most importantly, that are not always able to respond to conflicting resident needs. It is with that in mind that I propose the following: To develop a theory of how individuals with Alzheimer's disease experience their world, that is, to define their point of reference and second, based on that theory, to develop a methodological approach for the design of gardens for Alzheimer's disease facilities.

AU: Jones, Stanton
DT: 1994.
TI: Developing Perspective: The Impact of Community Garden Projects on Third-Party Participants
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: Much of the research and discussion regarding the relationships between humans and the environment, and, more specifically, between people and plants, has focused upon the influence that plants and the environment exert with respect to the health and well-being of people and/or their communities. Less discussion and research has been done focusing upon haw people-plant interactions affect a group that might be best defined as third-party participants -- specifically, how are professionals in fields as diverse as horticultural therapy, social work, and landscape architecture affected emotionally, spiritually, and professionally through their work with different populations? What is the role of plants and horticulture in affecting these third party participants? What is the role of people in this complex equation? This paper will examine the author's experience as the Project Manager/Garden Developer for the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG). Utilizing a community-based design and construction methodology, the projects completed by SLUG offer numerous examples of how plants and horticulture contribute both to the development of community in an urban setting, and to the individual participant;s sense of self-worth and well- being. An unexpected result of these projects, however, was the profound effect that they had upon the author's own value- system and emotional well-being. Interpersonal relationships, developed during the process of site design and construction, not only affected the author's own perspective regarding what was right and wrong, beautiful or deceptive, important or frivolous, but also served to redefine the author's professional interest and approach to the design of human environments. This paper will examine these issues and discuss how they could serve as a bases for increased research into this area, leading to potential changes in both the way professionals working with people and plants practice, and in the way we educate future professionals.

AU: Kavanagh, Jean Stephans
DT: 1994.
TI: At the Tips of Our Fingers: Compiling Data on Therapeutic Landscapes
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: This presentation reports on the efforts of researchers at Texas Tech University to codify and maintain qualitative and quantitative therapeutic landscape data as a direct outgrowth of a 1992 survey of outdoor horticultural therapy settings. As outdoor programs are appearing in increasing numbers, the need to track therapeutic landscapes has become a critical area of research. Furthermore, this growing awareness of therapeutic landscapes has generated a renewed quest for prototypical models for future development extending both to quantitative facility and therapeutic data and to qualitative experiential characteristics. The presentation addresses (1) the 1992 survey responses; (2) issues in expanding site data; and (3) data storage and retrieval options.

AU: McCombe-Spafford, Anne
DT: 1994.
TI: Horticulture and the Captive Audience: Gardening's Effect on Prison Inmates
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: Research has shown that gardening activity, as well as the presence of nature, can enhance the lives of people in settings such as nursing homes, urban environments, and in situations where persons have physical and/or mental disabilities. However, prison inmates comprise one population group rarely considered to receive the benefits of horticultural therapy. Prison life is often not very rehabilitative and can actually harbor frustrations and anger. While some correctional centers in Illinois and elsewhere in the United States offer horticulture classes or activities, there is little documentation of the possible impact upon prison inmates such as reduced stress, positive behavioral changes, and acquisition of skills. Based upon research in other settings, it is possible that inmates can also benefit from gardening and other nature-related experiences. Logan Correctional Center is the first of three sites of an on-going exploratory study that begins to look at some of the issues mentioned above. A questionnaire will be administered to three sample groups: inmates currently enrolled in a horticulture program, inmates enrolled in another type of program, and inmates who currently have a work assignment (otherwise no in a program). This will ensure that the effects measured can be traced back to the horticultural activity, and not to another source. The questionnaire addressed such issues as inmate stress levels, behavioral patterns, social patterns, and perceptions of their outdoor environment.

AU: Midden, Karen Stoelzle and Midden, Christopher
DT: 1994.
TI: Where Does Food Come From: A Computer Game
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: "Where Does Food Come From" is a computer game designed to introduce young people (target age 10-14) to the entire process food goes through from the field to the table. Many children are not aware of the origins of the food they eat. Use of a computer game involves the children in active learning which is fun and challenging. The scenario assumes the player is an investigative reporter for his/her school newspaper. During the game the player investigates the reason why there's no food in the school cafeteria for lunch. The player travels to farms and processing plants, and interviews school staff to uncover clues. There is a separate investigation for each item on the menu. To win the game the investigator must solve the mystery for three menu items in a limited amount of time and with a limited number of questions that can be asked. If the player does not meet these requirements their assignment will be ended for them. Engaged by actions, a child will experience the lesson embedding in the game.

AU: Mooney, Patrick F. and Milstein, Stephen L.
DT: 1994.
TI: Assessing the Benefits of a Therapeutic Horticulture Program for Seniors in Intermediate Care
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: This study demonstrated how the effects of horticulture as therapy can benefit the institutionalized elderly. Horticulture as therapy is especially suitable for this population since it can be adapted to varying levels of physical ability and interests and its benefits may be expected to offset the negative effects on institutionalization. Eighty seniors in intermediate care facilities were divided into two groups; an experimental group who received horticultural therapy for six months and a second group that served as a control. Three different psychological measures were administered to both groups at the beginning, middle and end of the study. These were the PAMIE or Physical and Mental Impairment of Function Evaluation and the MAS; the Multi-focus Assessment Scale for the Frail Elderly and combined Social Participation and Interaction Scale. Further, a focus group was conducted at the end of the study with the improvement on a number of important measures over the duration of the study while the control group did not. A pattern of improvement on a number of scales by the mid-point testing with a decline when the therapy was withdrawn became the "classic" pattern for the experimental group. The research report discusses the implications of these findings for the use of horticulture as therapy for institutionalized seniors and for future research.

AU: Morrison, Julie and Aldous, David E.
DT: 1994.
TI: Assessing Need for a Horticultural Therapy Garden in a Hospital Landscape
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: Scientific studies relating the therapeutic horticulture needs of the patient to the physical features of the landscape are laking despite anecdotal and clinical evidence that such effects exist. Fifteen allied health professional, which included occupational therapists, physiotherapists and nursing staff, were requested to complete a needs assessment on the patients profile, access and encouragement factors to enter and stay in the garden, preferences for hard and soft landscape elements, as well as information on frequency and length of visitation, and patient involvement in the gardening activities of the landscape. Identical questions were asked of twenty patients on their landscape needs, preferences and perceptions. Results were presented in tabular form and expressed as a percent. The Spearman's rank correlation co-efficient was used to compare patient and staff responses to identical questions. Results demonstrated that when designing a horticultural therapy garden, equal emphasis be placed on assessing the social and personal needs of the user, as well as the use of the physical landscape. Significant correlations (like responses) were found for both staff and patients in regard to elements of land use, access, specific garden feature, and vegetation types, and a lack of significance (unlike responses) regarding reasons for accessing and enjoying the garden, seating orientation and the use of raised garden beds. Results also showed that patients preferred to undertake passive gardening activities through sitting, observing and viewing, whilst staff saw the garden as a source of socialization and physical activity. Close consultation needs to be maintained between the landscape designer and staff, patients and visitors to obtain the desirable uses of a garden setting which maximizes patient experiential quality.

AU: Ottobre, James
DT: 1994.
TI: Imagery in People/Plant Communication and Its Psycho/Physiological Effects
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: I am not a scientist, philosopher, psychologist or theologian. Rather, I am a horticultural "field observer" who has read about and experimented with plants in landscaping, small gardens, and large-scale food production. I have come to the conclusion through these experiences that images have a great deal to do with people-plant relationships. These images are rooted in history going back thousands of years as well as our own personal histories. Some of these images are conscious and some are subconscious but they all in turn affect our lives. Examining the images that have shaped my gardening experiences has been highly instructive. It has made me a better landscaper and also changed me, fundamentally altering my picture of myself and what I consider reality to be.

AU: Owen, Patricia J.
DT: 1994.
TI: Translating the Healing Dimensions of Plants into Scientific Terminology
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: While we intrinsically recognize the healing dimensions of the people-plant relationship, we frequently communicate with terminology that is "touchy-feely." To be recognized by the scientific community, we must provide measurable physiological data. This presentation will provide an example of research that translates the healing dimensions of plants into scientific terminology. Physiological and psychological measurements of visitors to Botanica were collected to determine the influence of a garden visit. The systolic blood pressure of visitors, who participated in the study, decreased significantly, after spending time in the gardens. This is an exciting time for those who believe in the healing dimensions of the people-plant relationship. Recent research within the medical community documents the importance of many of the values inherent in people-plant relationships. We must continue to speak to the scientific community in language they will understand.

AU: Parsons, Colette
DT: 1994.
TI: The Spirit of Healing
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: Having had cancer has allowed me certain freedoms I never had prior to my illness. One of those freedoms is the ability to talk openly and candidly about my experience. My presentation entitled "The Spirit of Healing" comes from a place deep inside. A place from which we all have the ability to seize and harness energy, bat a place few of us tap into until we are confronted with a crisis in our lives. How each person harnesses their ability to heal is as different as each person is different. From my experience with discovering the spirit with which I could heal I have come to realize that there is a code of silence which surrounds life threatening illnesses, especially cancer. Nobody wants to hear about it, nobody ultimately wants to talk about it. It is as if by talking about cancer, it will invite it into our lives, and if we invite it into our lives, come in contact with it, we may contract it ourselves. People tend to fear what they do not understand and often are not willing to educate themselves to overcome their fears. As designers I believe it is imperative to hear the voices behind that code of silence. Part of the impetus for my discussion today is to be one of those voices - to share with you my illness and the aspects of the environment I feel which affected its course.

AU: Patel, I. C.
DT: 1994.
TI: Community Gardening's Impact on Cultural Diversity
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: Rutgers Urban Gardening (RUG) has established a physical, psychological and emotional environment that fosters and sustains diversity. RUG enhances cultural diversity by employing a 100% minority work force; reaching diverse audiences representing more than 30 ethnic groups; and offering a wide variety of education programs. Urban gardening gives people an opportunity to meet others, share concerns and solve problems together. RUG cuts across social, economic, cultural and racial barriers, bringing together people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds.

AU: Pinkson, Tom
DT: 1994.
TI: Shamanic Use of Psychotropic Plants for Healing in Transpersonal Development
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: This presentation will focus on the use of psychoactive plants used historically by indigenous peoples as sacred "elders", "teachers", and sources of power by which to access the numinous. Ethnobotanical field research with Huichol and Mazateca shamans from Mexico, as well as with shamans in Peru and Brazil, provide the basis for examining the dynamics of "right relationship" with sacramental plants of power. Special attention will be paid to how these plants heal, and the role of preparation, ritual, facilitation-set and setting, in this process. The impact of people-plant communion on social cohesion will also be addressed, along with implications for usage models of western society, and what we might learn from the thousands of years research already done in the field of shamanic cultures worldwide.

AU: Rice, Jay Stone and Remy, Linda L.
DT: 1994.
TI: Cultivating Self Development in Urban Jail Inmates
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: The roots of urban horticultural therapy may be found in the poor, overcrowded, and dilapidated inner cities spawned by industrialization. Almost 100 years ago Campbell (1896/1975) describes a garden started by the Children's Aid Society in a poor wharf area of New York. This small plot was planted with scented flowers to cover the smell of raw sewage. Plants started in this garden's small greenhouse were given to school to grow in home window boxes. On sunny days children would bring their plants to the park to receive direct light and would acquire the sun's benefits as well. Flowers grown by this mission were given to the poor, the aged, prisoners, and those who were sick. One year 160,000 bouquets were given away. Urban horticultural therapy programs have contributed to community pride, slum rehabilitation, lessening of vandalism, and increased self worth in communities across the United States (Burkhart & Thompson, 1972; Lewis, in press). Horticultural therapy also has been used to treat the predominantly inner city residents incarcerated in our jails and prisons. Nineteen per cent of state prisons have formal or informal horticultural therapy programs (Rice, 1993). The need for statistical evaluation of horticultural therapy programs has been notes (Berry, 1975; Francis & Cordts, 1992; Relf, 1981; Tereshkovich, 1973). Assessing the efficacy of horticultural therapy requires taking account of the multiple factors influencing the population being served. A social ecological analysis of San Francisco's inner city jail population found an intersecting pattern of psychological, social, and physical life traumas which undermine family stability and adversely impacted self development (Rice & Remy, 1994). Bronfenbrenner (1975) calls for the development of an experimental human ecology to adequately assess and treat individuals and the contexts which help to shape them. The importance of addressing the context as well as the individual is inherent in horticultural therapy. This perspective generates a moral imperative for developing healthy psychological, social, and physical environments which enhance human survivability and growth. Horticultural therapy's impact on inmate psychological and social functioning while in treatment, the retention of treatment effects post-release, and its relationship to other treatment interventions will be discussed in this paper.

AU: Shepard, Paul
DT: 1994.
TI: Phyto-Resonance of the True Self
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: Selfhood is a combine conscious and unconscious construction, aided by the capacity to refer intangible aspects on one's being to characteristics of the sensible world are represented mentally. Clinical and cultural evidence suggests that a coherent concept of the inner world of the self is compiled by reference, by imagining evanescent aspects on one's being (organic function, emotions, and social relations) as well as the existential reality of the viscera. The environment constitutes a repertoire of connotation, not as a casual reference but as an essential part of the evolution of cognition. Awareness and the manipulation and communication of abstruse reality is achieved by linking it to specific external configurations--especially visible forms--which can also be reproduced in art. Animals constitute a major class of connotation, to which certain inner events are keyed. This metaphoric device serves the individual in speech, in mythic and poetic thought, in therapeutic meditation and in dreams. One application of this resonance is between the image of the animal and of the experience of some physical or psychological, peripatetic quality. For example, Eligio Gallegos has been extremely successful with this imaging of animals in the therapist- client setting, in which animals associated in the patient's imagination with the chakras (the body centers of spirit, thought, voice, heart, emotion, and base) are invited into low-intensity 'conversation' and therefore serve as 'voices' for concerns otherwise 'buried.' The procedure implies an active role for the imaged animals, and their corresponding affinity for the feeling and thinking functions traditionally associated with the six energy centers. Such visualization does not require the physical presence of 'real' animals in the meeting. Its emphasis is on performance, in which the animal corresponds to events that 'move' us. I suggest that plants function in a similar fashion and that together they represent a little known but widely experienced holographic correspondence between the natural world and the mind. The analogous plant-human encounter might have different characteristics. A phyto resonance--the reciprocation of an internal aspect of the self and an external plant--could act at more fundamental levels than that of animals. Compared to affective states, what biologists call "vegetative functions" (digestion, assimilation, growth, circulation, metabolism and so on), are at once more intimate to us, as basic activities, and yet more elusive in the difficulty we have in ordinary experience of perceiving them as part of our being. They do not lend themselves metaphorically to the active voice of animal surrogates. Lacking the human-like features of animals, plants and plant communities present themselves as externalized elements of the self which are less assertive. Our rootedness in the earth and the spatial qualities of our relationships based on place are imprinted unconsciously, available to a botanically-sensitive, internal organizer, a resonance to which we are intrinsically predisposed and psychologically committed by our ontogeny. (more in book)

AU: Sherk, Bonnie
DT: 1994.
TI: Creating Interactive Living Librariestm of Cultural & Ecological Diversity
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: The time is now to transform our derelict parks, schools, communities, and cities into healthy and vibrant environments by reconnecting our fragmented local resources: human, ecological, historic, technological, and aesthetic. We can use nature as a model and design elegant and sustainable site and situation-specific indoor/outdoor culture-ecology parks and gardens that involve us meaningfully in their creation, use, maintenance, and communication. These resulting enchanting places with integrated programs and curricula will bring us closer to understanding and appreciating our local place and its relationship and impact on distant cultures and ecologies. We will also understand the interconnections between systems: biological, cultural, and technological and our lives and communities will be renewed. Each of these unique environments with integrated activities can be thought of as being A Living Librarytm of diversity. We are all part of A Living Library of diversity including our creations -- birds, people, trees, air, buildings, artworks, computers... As a synergizing vehicle or organism, A Living Library brings the humanities, sciences, and social sciences to life through integrated elements: the built and ecological environments, plants and other living forms, the arts, programs of lectures, demonstrations, workshops, research institutes, apprenticeship programs, and state-of-the-art communication technologies. As such it is an interactive think parktm and lifelong learning magnet that may become the school of the future, involving all sectors of the community in its ongoing processes of environmental and cultural stewardship. A goal of A Living Library is to create electronically linked branch Living Libraries in different locales around the world forming a global network of diversity and awareness. In this way, the local ecological, cultural, and technological diversity will come into focus and together, a planetary network of diversity will begin to emerge.

AU: Singleton, David
DT: 1994.
TI: Two Community Hospital Gardens: A Therapeutic Assessment
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: This paper reviews the findings of a recent study that explored therapeutic values of landscape gardens at two U.K. Community Hospitals, - as perceived by the design teams and hospital users - staff, patients, managers and visitors. The original case study was jointly sponsored by the Department of Health, U.K. and the Welsh Health Common Services Authority and published as an appendix in 'Health Building Note 45", - a design guide for the external works of health-care buildings. The broad conclusions are considered in the contest of design guidelines, research data and other information currently available to landscape designers in the U.K.

AU: Smith, Denise V. and Aldous, David E.
DT: 1994.
TI: Effect of Therapeutic Horticulture on the Self Concept of the Mildly Intellectually Disabled Student
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: The Tennessee Self Concept Scale was found to be an effective method in assessing the self-concept of the mildly intellectually disabled (MID) student undertaking skills training in horticulture. The assessment variables of self- concept, demonstrated, both statistically and descriptively, that exposure to a structured therapeutic horticulture program can have a positive influence on the outcome of the MID student. These results are in agreement with the observed and therorised benefits that therapeutic horticulture can have a positive effect on self esteem.

AU: Ware, Cheryl E.
DT: 1994.
TI: Designing and Building Healing Gardens at Health Care Facilities
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: A well-designed Healing Garden should become an integral component of modern health facility planning and operation. These Gardens can help calm patients, reduce blood pressure, relieve stress, encourage healing and host a badly needed break for harried staff or worried family members. This paper defines the purpose and benefits of a Healing Garden and relates personal experiences of the author, a Landscape Architect and Breast Cancer Survivor, as she designed a Healing Garden for a California hospital. Guidelines and other tools that design professional, health care professionals and concerned citizens can use to design and build a Healing Garden in their own communities are also included.

AU: Williams, Patrick Neal and Lohr, Virginia I.
DT: 1994.
TI: Effects of Horticultural Interactions on Pain Tolerance and Pain Medication
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: Throughout history, there have been reported cases of people benefitting from interactions with plants. More recently, researchers have begun to substantiate a variety of the effects plants have on people. In a recent paper reviewing some of these studies, Lohr (in press) called upon researches and practitioners to substantiate more of the claims for the benefits of plants. Some people fee hindered in the process of conducting research in this emerging field. In this paper, we will explain the process we used to design such an experiment. We hop it will help others to plan additional studies. The general question of interest to us was: do plants have a curative effect on people? Some people and researchers will quickly say yes. Numerous hospitals and institutions have devoted monies to build gardens and therapeutic programs as part of their treatment plan. Is there any evidence to justify such expenditures or are they supported by the blind faith belief that plants are helping people?

AU: Wood, Ronald A. and Burchett, Margaret D.
DT: 1994.
TI: Monitoring Indoor Plant Responses To Air Pollution - A Tool For Improving Air Quality
SO: The Healing Dimensions of People-Plant Relations. 1994. Mark Francis, Patricia Lindsey, and Jay Stone Rice, editors.
HO: HAVE.
AB: Since many people in our society spend most of their lives indoors, indoor air represents a major proportion of their exposure to air pollution. In some circumstances, poor indoor air quality may pose serious health risks, particularly in susceptible individuals. The responses of plants to pollutants may provide a simple method of monitoring gaseous pollutants, as was as providing pollution abatement in their presence. To develop the use of plants as bioindicators requires an appropriate selection of plant characteristics to be monitored. This project is based on the approach of Singh et al (1991), which was directed to outdoor air pollution responses. Measurements have been carried out on levels of ascorbic acid, chlorophyll a and b, relative water content, and leaf extract pH, in three common indoor foliage plant species, to establish an air pollution tolerance index (APTI) for each. The application of such indices in interior foliage plant materials can be used to assist in the routine maintenance and management of indoor plants, and in the concomitant quality of the indoor air for the occupants of the building.

[Prepared as part of the Horticulture Database under the supervision of Diane Relf, Extension Specialist, Consumer Horticulture, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0327. This document is from the VCE gopher server (gopher.ext.vt.edu).]