Chicago Botanic Garden

Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden

Certificate Programs

Healthcare Garden Design — Certificate of Merit Program
2008 SESSION: March 26 – April 2, 2008

PHOTO: wheelchair gardening PHOTO: clover in bloom PHOTO: container gardening

Healthcare garden design is an emerging area of specialization in which several professions converge to create environments of care. In this professional development program, attendees will discover the many ways gardens provide verifiable health benefits for their patients, staff and visitors. The multi-disciplinary program introduces the latest research in healthcare garden design, demonstrating the benefits of healthcare gardens while providing participants with the expertise, knowledge and tools to effectively design, manage and evaluate such gardens. These garden environments of care maximize the effectiveness of clinical treatments for illness and disabilities, and create passive garden experiences that significantly reduce staff stress and absenteeism, improve patient health, increase client satisfaction and strengthen the bottom line.

Who should participate?

  • Landscape architects, garden designers, architects and interior designers
  • Healthcare executives, program administrators, development and marketing directors, and consultants
  • Nurses, therapists, extended care providers, and activity and recreation directors
  • Graduate students in related fields

Program Design

This program will meet for 8 days in March 2008. The session includes lectures, group projects, case studies and field trips. Experts from the healthcare garden-related professions provide program instruction. You will work in multidisciplinary teams that reflect the real world of healthcare garden design, and your learning will be reinforced through tours of healthcare facilities in greater Chicago.

Program Content

The program begins with a special full-day seminar on "Gardens that Heal: A Prescription for Wellness," designed as a starting point for those participating in the full program, and as an introduction for professionals not requiring full certification.

Specific content elements:

  • Types of healthcare gardens and their defining characteristics
  • Research, evidence-based design and post-occupancy evaluation
  • Passive and active garden experiences for positive health outcomes
  • Characteristics of user groups (patients, family, visitors and staff) and how they benefit
  • How to reduce staff stress and increase satisfaction, retention and recruitment
  • Universal design, ADA, barrier-free design, regulations, codes and specifications
  • Integration of gardens into new and existing healthcare campus landscapes
  • Connection of outdoor gardens to indoor spaces and therapeutic activities
  • Plant selection and use, equipment, materials, safety, security and privacy
  • Construction and maintenance of new projects; performing renovations and redirecting uses of indoor and outdoor spaces, including rooftops
  • Management of the garden facility and costs
  • How to build winning healthcare garden design teams
  • How to succeed in the client-centered marketplace
  • Marketing, project proposals and management, funding and resources

Program Dates & Location

Wednesday, March 26 – Wednesday, April 2, 2008.
Location: Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, IL 60022

Download 2008 Brochure (PDF)

 

For additional information about the program, contact Amelia Simmons-Hurt at (847) 835-8293 or school@chicagobotanic.org.

The Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden is registered with the ASLA American Society of Landscape Architects as a provider of CPE Continuing Professional Education programs for landscape architects.