Westgate Healthcare Grow your own!
Westgate Healthcare believe that gardening and growing your own vegetables has many health and therapeutic benefits and is a great sensory activity beneficial to all. Smelling herbs and produce, touching the soil, practising dexterity skills and light exercise through weeding, potting, planting, sweeping and digging, all help people to connect with their surroundings and enjoy moments of calm. Simply being outdoors, feeling the sunshine, rain and wind on their faces or hearing mother nature are simple meaningful pleasures that can be enjoyed and enable opportunities to interact with others, whether, team members, residents or visiting relations.
Many of our residents have spent years enjoying their own gardens, and meaningful activities form an essential part of our care service and delivery. Our ‘Lifestyle Pioneer’ initiative encourages residents to take part in such activities that help promote their independence and wellbeing. Our Resident Gardeners are able to continue their interests, whether from seeding, planting, or caring for the environment in which they live, giving a sense of purpose.
The recent Westgate in Bloom competition, challenged our homes to Grow the Biggest Marrow, and has brought out the competitive spirit in some, taking this further by growing a range of their own vegetables and fruits including strawberries, tomatoes, aubergines, courgettes, cucumbers, spring onions and basil to name just a few. Residents have reaped the rewards as our chefs have used the produce in some of their recipes.
Digging, pruning and planting vegetables to create delicious meals has brought our team members and residents together positively impacting their health and wellbeing. By being able to get outside, nurture and see the fruits of their labour has made everyone proud of their achievement’ said Home Manager, Kingfisher Nursing Home, Fredah Kamau.
Winners of the Grow the Biggest Marrow competition, Head of Activities at St Pauls Care Centre, Lucy Wright said ‘we always strive to look for new ways to enrich the lives of our residents, and this has been a fantastic way of doing this. Our family members have thoroughly enjoyed being part of this project, whether taking loved ones out to garden centres, digging the plot, talking to Mildred and we are keen to promote intergenerational activities for all our residents’.
Westgate Healthcare continue to enrich the lives of our residents, providing that continuity of living that we need to feel happy and fulfilled as we grow older.
