Thanks to a grant from the United Way, ElderCare Network residents have been able to participate in the Therapeutic Horticultural class led by Irene Brady Barber at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay. Hodgdon Green residents attended a six-week program in August and September that is specially designed to help them “enhance skills and achieve self-growth.”

Participants are given “therapeutic, gentle tasks to each member’s abilities” and residents agree the experience is both soothing and stimulating. The sensory garden affords folks with memory loss the ability to engage with peers in the peaceful surroundings at the garden. Residents are guided to become involved using their sense of sight, sound, smell and touch. The results of the visit last far beyond the actual time spent in the garden. Stimulated by the garden designs, colors, and fresh air, residents comment on the outing even once they’ve returned. The experience at the garden has inspired residents who have decreased verbal interactions to initiate conversations once more. 

Hodgdon Green is a small residential care home serving 16 seniors located on Hodgdon Street in Damariscotta. It is one of the seven “Greens” scattered throughout seven villages in Lincoln County. Hodgdon Green offers Adult Day Services on-site days, evenings and weekends. Go to www.eldercarenetwork.org or call 207-563-2148 for more information.