Garden project helps young psychiatric patients at Warneford Hospital
Researchers say introducing nature into secure wards could improve wellbeing for both patients and staff
A therapeutic garden has been created at a secure mental health unit for young people in Oxford as part of a project led by the University of Oxford and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.
The project took place at the Meadow Unit at the Warneford Hospital, a psychiatric intensive care unit for children and adolescents experiencing acute mental health crises.
Researchers, NHS staff, estates teams and former service users worked together to transform an outdoor area previously described by staff as “barren” and “depressing” into a therapeutic green space.
Dr Katrin Wilhelm, a senior researcher working across the University of Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry and School of Geography and the Environment, said the project explored whether nature could safely be introduced into highly risk-managed mental health settings.
The garden was created through a series of collaborative sessions involving ward staff with plants selected to meet strict safety requirements.
Dr Wilhelm said: “They reported to us what the young people might prefer in terms of planting and sort of selection of plants.
“For example, we found that they preferred certain smells or plants you could cook with. So that really informed our choices of plants in the garden, while also adhering to the risk requirements.”
She said one unexpected finding was that even patients unable to access the outdoor area appeared to benefit from it.
“One of the teachers reported back that one day they looked outside the window and saw us planting flowers and it led to them having a conversation about this flower," Dr Wilhelm said.
“This really stuck with me because I didn’t anticipate that nature would have an effect indoors as well.”
The team said the introduction of plants and wildlife changed how patients and staff experienced the ward environment.
“As soon as you put something in there which is alive, say a flower, it attracts other species like bees and birds and people start noticing things differently,” Dr Wilhelm said.
She added that NHS staff involved in the project also reported positive effects from spending time gardening during stressful shifts.
“It literally takes five minutes to actually plant a flower, but it might have a huge effect how you then go on with your day in a high-pressure environment,” she said.
Researchers behind the study now hope similar approaches could be introduced more widely across secure mental health settings.
Dr Wilhelm said: “What this project has shown is that the environment itself should become part of the care provision.
“A healthy environment and a beautiful environment automatically has an effect on how you feel and it also has effect on how care is being delivered."