The substance-use epidemic touches all areas of the commonwealth, and treatment programs are using creative, research-based approaches to assist those impacted.
Taylor County Nutrition Education Program Assistant, Angela Freeman, and Extension Horticulture Agent, Kara Back, collaborated with The Healing Place during the 2023 - 2024 fiscal year to teach both gardening skills and nutrition education. The gardening, meal planning, and cooking skills learned will be useful to participants, both in the short term and after they leave the recovery center.
Therapeutic horticulture is defined as a practice that uses living plants and gardening to improve people’s spiritual, mental, and physical health, according to the American Horticulture Therapy Association. Working with the Horticulture Agent, 61 recovery center residents participated in the garden. The garden consisted of herbs, garlic, lettuce, onions, tomatoes and peppers in 50 sq. Ft. Of raised bed gardens. The produce from the garden was utilized primarily for use in the recovery center kitchen. Also, the produce is used in the EFNEP assistant's weekly nutrition class.
Participants tended the garden by watering, weeding, and harvesting vegetables. In addition, some residents were assigned to construct a new raised bed for the 2023 - 2024 season. These leadership roles aided in the participants’ substance-use recovery because gardening promotes connection with other participants, fostering social inclusion and community belonging—which are essential to substance-use recovery. 100% of participants learned how gardening can contribute to substance use recovery. The Horticulture agent noted that the best part of the program is teaching participants how to plant a garden who have never grown anything before,
