Can Modern Medicine Make Room for a Little Horticulture?
For most people who’ve been stuck in a hospital on the slow and boring road to recovery, the thing they say they appreciate most is the TV. Unless, of course, their room has a potted plant.
A recent study using medical and psychological measurements showed that patients with live plants in their hospital rooms tended towards less stress and therefore recovered more quickly than those without. Nurses observed that people who had plants began to water and prune them and move them around for optimum light ““ in other words, they had a desire to nurture, thereby speeding up their own healing.
Could it be that modern medicine needs to make room for a little horticulture? The simple science is that plants also clean the air and regulate humidity, but dare I inject a little woo-woo into the conversation, plants are thought to contain chi, or life force energy. Draw your own conclusions, but if I were ever in a hospital, I certainly know what I’d prefer: make my room a jungle!
Image: timtom.ch
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3 Comments
January 8th, 2009 at 11:45 am
I wish I could successfully grow plants.
The only thing I can manage are herbs and my orchid.
January 8th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
The plant idea is great…and also, if you have anyone in the hospital, bring a very large box of chocolates for the nurses, who also work long hours and are under appreciated. My mom always brought a giant box of Sees when my dad was in for something. I think he got more attention because of the kindness.
January 13th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
…or perhaps some fresh local fruit for the nurses, who don’t need refined sugar adding to the blood sugar spikes already occurring from stress!
But I agree, nurses (and social workers) deserve far more appreciation than they receive.
This topic of nature as healing is so obvious to me that it’s strange when people consider it revolutionary. I used to work at a 120-bed psych ward and I implemented a food reform program there. Everyone thought it was so cutting-edge. It’s really just about going back to how we used to live.
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