At a time when our health care system is constrained by financial and human resources, the healing power of nature can play an important role.
An investment in a living wall can have demonstrable cost-saving and positive outcomes on health. When patients tend to get well more quickly and reduce their reliance on drugs and follow-up care, health care institutions can realize significant cost-savings. It is a win-win situation when patients, their caregivers and families, and the health care system can reap benefits from something as basic as bringing nature inside.
The benefits of therapeutic green spaces extend beyond those experienced by children and older patients who suffer from various illnesses and diseases. Greenery can have a significant effect on family members and hospital staff as well. Using the healing power of nature has implications for both individuals and the public health care system.
Using the healing power of nature has implications for both individuals and the public health care system.
The evidence is strong and the benefits are enormous. More and more hospitals in the United States and Europe are incorporating green spaces, therapeutic gardens, and living walls into their design. As recently as 2012, however, no hospitals in Canada had incorporated nature in their waiting rooms. This was the motivating factor in the establishment of the Forget For A Moment Foundation.
The vision of the Forget For A Moment Foundation is that, within ten years, hospitals, rehabilitation centres and chronic care facilities across Canada will incorporate natural structures into the design of all new construction and renovations. When nature is made accessible by bringing it indoors, patients and residents in institutional settings, along with their families and caregivers, will begin to experience its healing power first-hand.
The Forget For A Moment Foundation believes that this will help develop a new and deeper respect for the healing power of nature and a heightened desire to ensure that nature is protected and respected.
Here are a few examples:
