Page 16 - Mainstreamer e-Magazine Volume 1, Issue 3 - August 2023
P. 16
IMPROVING QUALITY OF LIFE
Author’s conceptualisation of the
therapeutic experience of the
eight senses being stimulated
while revelling in a sensory garden.
(Image by: Hazreena Hussein)
of disabling conditions. Several illustrations of • It is crucial to establish the needs of all
TSSG’s achievements in treatment and patient care garden users through group planning
are provided below. sessions and providing enough space for
A seven-year-old boy diagnosed with autism everyone.
spectrum disorder, who had acted uncontrollably • The garden size should be flexible to allow
hyperactive in a busy rehabilitation medicine for changing needs and interests, ensuring
consultation clinic, was brought to the TSSG, proper maintenance, and providing adequate
where he instantly calmed down and behaved in a garden features.
controlled manner. • The garden must be able to attract wildlife
A 19-year-old university undergraduate patient through careful plant selections to provide
had suffered a stroke resulting from a burst further sensory stimulations and experiences.
aneurysm. She used a bowling aid for recreational Butterflies and birds are particularly attracted
activity and worked diligently in the physiotherapy to ceri (Muntingia calabura) and siantan
gymnasium and occupational therapy to improve (Ixora javanica).
her functional independence. After eight weeks, • Hard and soft landscapes are integrated,
she became bored with the routine. Then, she taking into consideration accessibility and
started applying the indoor skills she learnt using a how certain garden features will engage with
modified bowling training gadget in the TSSG. The weather and seasonal changes.
move to the outdoors motivated her to sharpen Inclusive design is not intended solely for PWDs
her bowling skills. and will not always be possible or practical for all
Even simple group activities of passing a ball PWDs to access the garden fully. What matters
or playing musical chairs can be turned into is that the general public is sufficiently informed
an Olympiad in which PWDs are challenged to about the additional sensory experiences that a
perform beyond their expectations. TSSG has to offer so that they can make their own
The therapeutic impact of stimulating patients’ decisions as to whether to patronise the garden or
spatial, emotional, and spiritual senses, in addition not.
to their senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and
touch, can help them and PWDs achieve their The author is the Head for Centre of Sustainable Planning
rehabilitation goals. Such therapy can be gradually and Real Estate at the Faculty of Built Environment,
University of Malaya. She holds a Ph.D. in Landscape
increased as they progress from being patients Architecture from the University of Edinburgh, United
of healthcare practises to becoming members of Kingdom. Her research interests are on Person -
Environment interactions, inclusive access to outdoor
society at large. environments, and multisensory timulation environments.
Factors in designing a TSSG are as follows: The particular focus of her doctoral work has been on
accessible design in relation to the use of sensory gardens.
15 Vol. 01, Issue 3 | August 2023
