RUSK INSTITUTE OF REHABILITATION MEDICINE
Patients from The Rusk Institute are scheduled into horticultural therapy as part of their rehabilitation regimen. Five days a week for one hour, patients attend group sessions which include children and adults to meet their individual rehabilitation goals, reduce stress, and gain a sense of personal accomplishment, productivity and self-reliance. In the group setting, they propagate plants, arrange flowers, and engage in nature craft projects. Through the focus on the plants, the patients benefit from the garden environment and leave refreshed and renewed to continue their convalescence.

CARDIAC REHABILITATION Cardiac patients generally visit the garden for only one session during their rehabilitation stay. During this visit they discuss the benefits of gardening, including exercise and stress reduction. They tour the conservatory and propagate a plant which they bring home. A research project currently underway is demonstrating a positive shift in mood of these patients after their visit to the Garden. The positive effects of this program were written in the Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine.

NYU TISCH HOSPITAL PSYCHIATRIC UNIT Horticultural Therapy is offered to psychiatric patients who have a doctor's prescription and have earned privileges to visit the Gardens. Offered Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 9:00 am - 10:00 am. Patients select plants, learn the steps for propagating them and then bring them home. Patients feel a sense of empowerment and serenity in the Garden program.

APHASIA PROGRAM The Garden offers special horticulture programs to the Aphasia Community Group in collaboration with the medical center's Speech and Language Therapy Department. This program teaches planting skills and offers socialization and fun as a means of decreasing isolation for individuals with aphasia.

PROJECT FIND The Garden offers a horticulture program in collaboration with Project FIND, a social service program dedicated to assisting seniors in New York with housing, nutrition, medical, and other social issues. This program is based in the Woodstock Hotel, a 270-room residence for seniors on West 43rd Street. This project has been overwhelmingly successful. The participants are so invested in the gardening program that they have taken on a new planting project in Times Square. They have installed and will maintain throughout the year 25 large street planters, which helps to beautify the area as well as improve pedestrian access and safety.

AGING AND DEMENTIA PROGRAM  A hands-on activity-based horticulture program offered to clients from the Aging and Dementia Center at NYUMC in collaboration with their staff. The planting activities, in the restorative environment of the garden, encourage reminiscence and stimulate sensory, cognitive and communication skills.

CVA GROUP  Offered in collaboration with the Occupational Therapy Department, the planting activities help the stroke patients to reinforce and exercise skills related to OT rehabilitation goals. The program provides complex activities in an environment which helps reduce stress and mental fatigue in order to increase the patient’s engagement, interaction and learning.

EPILEPSY UNIT HORTICULTURE PROGRAM  A weekly program on the Tisch Epilepsy Unit in collaboration with the Therapeutic Recreation Department, this program offers activities to help decrease isolation and improve mood through participation in a group project.  As the patients master new skills, they increase their confidence and self-esteem.