McHenry County College Occupational Therapy Assistant students completed four different community projects to enhance people’s physical and mental well-being. Students divided into four separate groups and worked with agencies throughout the county to: create a therapeutic garden for disabled clients at Pioneer Center in McHenry, develop a pre-riding activity book for Main Stay’s Therapeutic Riding Program in Richmond, implement a work learning station for the day program at the Public Action to Deliver Shelter (PADS) program in Woodstock and develop a program at Autumn Leaves assisted living community in Crystal Lake to encourage health and wellness for caregivers.
Students who worked on the therapeutic garden thought of an elevated garden bed with a variety of vegetables to engage adults in an individual/group work program called the Stepping Out Adult Recreation (SOAR) program at Pioneer Center in McHenry. With assistance from family members and friends, the students and SOAR staff built the 8 foot by 3 foot cedar wood garden that stands waist height so people in walkers or wheelchairs can comfortably plant, care for, smell and taste the plantings. The vegetables grown from seeds or seedlings include spinach, lettuce, onion and green pepper and potted tomatoes. The SOAR program could use the vegetables for cooking and meal preparation with the clients.
“The garden provides our clients with a purposeful activity to do outside,” said Kelly Zimmerman, day program coordinator at Pioneer Center. “Our clients benefit from the different textures, colors, and smells of homegrown vegetables. They enjoy caring for the plants and gain a sense of personal achievement.” “We put everything we learned in three semesters to use in a real-life setting,” said Amanda Baudin. “I love the idea of giving people more meaning and purpose in their lives.”
Another group of students who developed a pre-riding activity book for Main Stay Therapeutic (horse) Riding Program came up with the idea to encourage engagement while preparing the riders for their lesson. Instructors will be able to choose activities, based on Sensory Integration Theory that may calm or arouse the student depending on the student’s specific needs. With this increased participation, students may receive an increased therapeutic benefit from the lesson. Pre-riding activities would work toward increasing function in the student’s individual performance skills which includes motor skills, process skills and social skills.