The Impact of an Allotment Group on Mental Health Clients' Health, Wellbeing and Social Networking

Abstract

The needs of people with serious mental health problems are frequently not met by services and service users' difficulties are further compounded by social isolation and exclusion. Clients attending a community mental health team horticultural allotment group described the importance that they attached to social contact in the group. This study aimed to develop an understanding of how this experience came about so that it could be harnessed more effectively. A qualitative approach was used to explore the subjective experience of meaning that had underpinned regular attendance by nine group members. Qualitative interviews and a focus group generated data, which were examined in the light of concepts drawn from the literature on therapeutic horticulture, social networking and meaning in occupation. The participants described the restorativeness of the allotment setting, a resurgent destigmatised identity and attachment to a highly valued social network. The study concludes that there are particular qualities of the plant-person relationship that promote people's interaction with their environment and hence their health, functional level and subjective wellbeing. The embeddedness of allotments within communities means that they have great potential as media for occupational therapy and as mechanisms for social inclusion.