RE: Garden for Alzheimer's Patients

Thanks for the feedback so far, ladies! 

Melody, we will be looking for old-fashioned flowers for the reasons you
mentioned. We hope to rekindle those happy but misty memories, or at
least the good feelings associated with them.


Regarding the question, "Who would be eating these flowers?", I'm afraid
it IS the patients. The garden is fenced, and they are allowed to roam
unattended there as well as inside the building. The nurses on the unit
were the first people to mention that plants would undoubtably be
ingested and so needed to be safe. This facility is, like most, unable
to provide one-on-one, 24-hour supervision. The best the staff can do is
try to patient-proof the environment, keeping them inside the building
and garden but out of storage areas, desks, cabinets, etc., so giving
the folks a place to wander safely.


In my area, only one nursing home is dedicated exclusively to the care
of Alzheimer's patients, and that's the place that does the best job of
keeping tabs on ambulatory patients. I can't even begin to guess what it
costs to house a family member there!


Wendy

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