Creating a garden for wellbeing to bloom

Occupational Therapy Apprentice, James Page, with his Practice Educator, Sharon Jones at Heathside.

A hidden-away courtyard garden at the Heathside Centre, in Coxheath, is to get a new lease of life as a wellbeing garden.

It’s all thanks to a unique learning placement scheme, run by KCHFT’s Allied Health Professions (AHP) Academy.

Undergraduate occupational therapy (OT) students and KCHFT apprentices are being tasked to create a wellbeing garden that will inspire mental and physical wellness.

As well as working on the garden, the students are gaining clinical experience with the West Kent Learning Disabilities Team.

Heathside Centre, near Maidstone, is used for outpatients for our speech and language therapy as well as many of our children’s services, like hearing, therapies and nutrition and dietetics.

Gill Davies-Patrick, KCHFT’s Learning Environment Lead, who is overseeing the project, said: “We want to offer unique placements for AHP undergraduate students and apprentices and provide them with new and innovative opportunities to learn.

“We know occupational therapy is perfectly aligned to promote health and wellbeing through engaging with outdoor environments and the wellbeing garden project at Heathside gives the opportunity for OT students to research and plan this space from scratch.

“They will need to consider how the garden can benefit a variety of people who work at and visit the centre, while also looking at disabled access, costs and sustainability.”

James sets to work

James Page is an OT apprentice and the first to be assigned to the project as part of the research phase, alongside third-year Canterbury Christchurch University OT undergraduate Joanne O’Presco.

James said: “The first stage of the project is a scoping exercise to establish the benefits of creating a wellbeing garden. Occupational therapy is all about adapting environments to help with wellbeing and a garden is the perfect space for this to happen.

The project team - James Page, Gillian Davies-Patrick, Michelle Warren, Joanne O'Presco

“We’re aim to create a relaxing and therapeutic garden for patients. Once the garden has been created, the focus will be on sustainability and maintenance for the future.”

Sharon Jones, Occupational Therapist is James’ practice educator. She said: “James is doing a fantastic job and it’s a delight to see his passion for occupational therapy through this placement. It is a new adventure which will pave the way for students to come, all while creating a garden for many to enjoy.”