6 • SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 2022 • HOUSE TO HOME
GET OUTSIDE
Chatham University study shows positive results
when students spend time in sensory garden
by JOANNE KLIMOVICH HARROP
“A breath of fresh air” is more than just a saying.
There is some proof that being outside has positive
effects on people.
For Carlee Domke, a second-year occupational
therapy doctorate student at Chatham University
in Shadyside, part of the experiential curriculum
includes visiting the school’s sensory garden.
“When I was there I felt different,” said Domke, a
Plum native who lives in Friendship. “If I was having
a hard day or dealing with some anxiety, my first
instinct was to walk it out and connect with nature.
Taking in your surroundings can calm you and lift
your mood.”
The occupational team at Chatham conducted a
study of students and their interactions with the sensory
garden. The results shared through Science Direct
showed when engaged in the use of green spaces, the
students experienced improved health and well-being.
Science Direct is a multi-disciplinary, peer-reviewed
journal article database that provides access to scientific
and medical publications.
Utilizing green space can be another avenue for
occupational therapists to learn about a person’s sensory
system and how a body can react to an outdoor
environment.
“With occupational therapy, we try to make someone’s
day-to-day activities easier and when we can do
that, it helps their mental health side too,” Domke said.
She said she had never been a person who enjoyed
planting flowers or shrubbery — until she spent
time in the sensory garden. She walked barefoot
through the grass and has returned several times
to view the progress of how the flowers and plants
have grown.
The goal of the garden is to reach all senses, according
to Theresa Delbert, doctoral capstone coordinator
and assistant professor within the entry-level occupational
therapy doctorate program at Chatham.
It was designed to do so.
They built the sensory garden as part of an apple
orchard at the Eden Hall Campus, a 388-acre sustainable
farm in Richland. It’s one of three locations for
the university.
The others are the aforementioned Shadyside
and an Eastside campus near Bakery Square in
Pittsburgh’s East End. That is where the school’s
occupational therapy program the School of Health
Sciences is housed.
The goal was to reach all five senses: sight, scent,
sound, touch and taste.
Chatham University’s sensory
garden includes a bird house.
Create your own
sensory garden
It doesn’t matter where the sensory
garden is located, but how one interacts
with it, according to Kasey Stepansky,
academic fieldwork coordinator
and assistant professor within the entry
level occupational therapy doctorate
program at Chatham University.
A sensory garden is easiest to create
within an existing backyard or other
green space, but everyone can incorporate
similar principles of these gardens
into community spaces, wooded areas,
or porch, patio or other personal spaces.
“There is a difference between
spending time in a place and actively
engaging with a place,” said Janet
Bucey, assistant professor and part of
the entry-level occupational therapy
doctorate program at Chatham, said in
a statement. “Sensory gardens offer
people an opportunity to intentionally
engage their full range of senses in
ways they may not usually experience,
which can have a profound effect on
their mood, attitude, and energy levels.”
It is so important to get outside,
and to be in nature, Stepansky said.
Actively engaging in the space can be
so positive, Stepansky said. It can help
take away some of the pressures of
school. There is something peaceful
when being in nature. It’s about reconnecting
and reflecting on life.
“Mental health is so important,”
Delbert said. “Just being in nature
10-15 minutes a day can really have a
significant impact on how we respond
to stress.”
Like “a breath of fresh air.”
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF CHATHAM UNIVERSITY
Chatham
University’s
sensory garden
at its Eden Hall
Campus in Richland
is a place for
students to unwind.
It includes water
features and several
seating areas
surrounded by
flowers and trees.