Orla Concannon (center) founded Eldergrow in 2015.
Studies have shown that access to the outdoors provides a menu of health benefits. When the outdoors become more challenging to maneuver due to mobility issues, it’s time to find a way to bring the outdoors in. That’s what one Seattle-area resident thought back in 2015.
While pursuing a healthcare-focused MBA at Seattle University, Orla Concannon was prompted to come up with a business plan that solved a problem. Through her personal experience working for The Alzheimer Society of Ireland National Office in Dublin and memory care facility Aegis Living in Puget Sound, she observed that outside exposure declines considerably in the elderly population.
Concannon said, “I set out to figure out how to bring nature indoors in a meaningful, interactive way — not a living wall but in a way to facilitate a sense of purpose that gives residents an opportunity to nurture.”
From that, Eldergrow sprouted. Over the last four years it has grown from an award-winning MBA project that won a couple of awards to a full-fledged business operating in 20 states in approximately 125 senior living communities.
Eldergrow offers two separate programs: a therapeutic horticulture program for long term care facilities and a culinary herb garden program designed for independent and assisted living settings.
According to Concannon, therapeutic horticulture has been practiced in the U.S. since our nation’s first hospital was founded in Pennsylvania in 1751. For those already living with cognitive impairment, gardening has been shown to help with behavioral challenges, the severity of depression and displays of aggression. It improves speech patterns, reduces patient recovery time after surgery and maintains and strengthens fine motor skills. Possibly the strongest statistic that Concannon sites is that gardening on a daily basis reduces the onset of dementia by 36 percent and it’s nonpharmacological.
The therapeutic horticulture program that Eldergrow offers includes an on-site educator that comes to the senior community twice a month. That educator teaches a therapeutic gardening class and maintains the garden, which is fully accessible for seated, wheeled or standing gardeners. While there, the educator measures and monitors residents’ wellness goals as part of a larger wellness program.
Types of classes offered are garden art which relates with residents who have artistic or culinary leanings and horticulture classes like propagating. Particularly in the northwest, Concannon has found many residents have a background of farming. In memory or skilled care facilities where it can be difficult to draw residents out socially, she has witnessed some encouraging breakthroughs.
“A lot of folks connect with the outdoors on a deep level because they worked in an orchard or had a garden so being able to connect with the earth can really stimulate positive memories,” Concannon said.
Speaking about the culinary herb garden program, Concannon said this is a newer, self-managed option that Eldergrow is offering. It brings the farm-to-fork culture to the senior living setting and focuses on herbs. Fresh herbs are shipped to facilities every month and a selection of activities are centered around the highlighted herb. Similar to a wine-of-the-month club, herbs come with recipes and a video about the featured herb such as its history, origin and health benefits. Remote coaching offers the activities director more opportunities to expand on education through an activity such as making and using a parsley facial mask, crafting a lavender pillow sachet or creating a sunscreen print using the herb to make an imprint on paper.
Concannon’s respect and appreciation for the elderly population can be attributed to the strong multi-generational influence she experienced growing up. “My nana — my Irish grandmother, Theresa Concannon — put our elders on the map for me. She made me aware of this group of the community. I’ve always been sensitive to them and mindful of them being an important part of our makeup. After earning my healthcare-focused MBA, I wanted to go back to working for our elders,” she said.
Locally, Touchmark at Fairway Village began offering the therapeutic horticulture program to residents back in January. Kristal MacNeil, health services administrator for Touchmark, said that it is going very well. Residents look forward to daily plant watering and watching them change and grow.
MacNeil’s favorite aspect of Eldergrow is how it touches on all seven dimensions of wellness; physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, social, environmental and occupational.
“The Eldergrow experience promotes creativity, sensory stimulation and social bonding and is a great addition to our life enrichment/wellness programming,” MacNeil said. “Family members constantly share with me how the garden gives their loved ones purpose and joy.”
