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WMU Grand Rapids Students Present Veteran's Healing Garden

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An innovative project was recently presented that shows how “healing gardens” can offer therapeutic benefits to veterans.  A collaborative effort between WMU-Grand Rapids occupational therapy students and landscape architecture students in Washington State is underway. 

“When we meld the skill set of occupational therapy with landscape architecture I think that we create a holistic space that meets the needs of the entire person.”

That’s Amy Wagenfeld, an assistant professor of occupational therapy at Western Michigan University.  She’s utilizing a longtime partnership with a professor of landscape architecture at the University of Washington.  Their students are collaborating across the miles to co-design a therapeutic, healing garden at the Veteran Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System.

“For veterans who are receiving treatment for psychological issues or physical issues, research over and over is supporting it provides incredible, positive, powerful effects.”

Wagenfeld says the garden project began in January… She says her hope is that the project’s success will encourage other healing gardens for Veterans, specifically here in Michigan that combine the use of occupational therapy and landscape architecture

“I think that two things: that we see therapeutic designs put into any military installation. And that the input from military families is very much incorporated into these spaces.”

Wagenfeld says there’s an Increasing body of evidence that being in nature promotes positive health and wellness for mental health, cognitive and physical rehabilitation.

“We hope it’s the beginning of seeing these spaces in military and through the world”

The healing garden project is expected to be complete by the end of  May. 

Jennifer is an award winning broadcast news journalist with more than two decades of professional television news experience including the nation's fifth largest news market. She's worked as both news reporter and news anchor for television and radio in markets from Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo all the way to San Francisco, California.