Healing Gardens for Assisted Living: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Health Education

There is a serious lack of health promotion programs for seniors transitioning from living in their own homes to assisted living. Research has demonstrated that horticulture and gardening can benefit people who are institutionalized. Aging and horticulture specialists at the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension collaborated to create a healing garden project at Nevada's first low-income assisted living facility in Las Vegas. The goal was to enhance residents' quality-of life through a less traditional educational process. This process expands the scope and reach of Extension programs to a much larger and more diverse audience.