Gardening 'good for Alzheimers'

Did you know that gardening is something that helps ease the lot of Alzheimers sufferers? We didn't until we met with Helen Dreelan, Matron of the Alzheimers Unit in St Vincents in Athy.



Along with Josie Connelly, Dick Reade, and Ann Corrigan, she was collecting in Kilcullen for the Unit. Specifically to fundraise the €15,000 cost of a secure polytunnel which can be used by the Alzheimers patients all year around.

"There's been a lot of research which shows that gardening calms people with Alzheimers," Helen says. "We already have a garden plot for them in Athy, but the polytunnel makes the whole idea more suited to the Irish weather."

The facility will have wheelchair access, and each ward will have a raised garden space. Because many of the patients are confused and inclined to wander, it will be securely fenced.

The Unit also bought a special percussion system worth €4,000 from the US some time ago, as more research shows that drumming also has a beneficial effect on the minds of Alzheimers patients.

"A lot of people with advanced Alzheimers regress back to a very childlike state, and it seems that the they equate the drumming to their mothers' heartbeat before they were born," Helen says. "It soothes them."

Pictured above are Ann Corrigan, Josie Connelly, Dick Reade, and Helen Dreelan, Matron of the Alzheimers Unit in St Vincents in Athy, collecting funds in Kilcullen for the Unit.