Matthias-Claudius- Home (Est. 1995)

Part of the Diaconal Foundation in Hamburg, Germany, is home to around 150 older residents. This residential Aged Care Home includes one ward of people living with dementia and otherwise caters for varying levels of care and mobility.

A team of around 10 Allied Health or Support Staff accompany the residents through their daily lives alongside the medical staff. This includes the Garden Therapy Program, including the ‘Garden Club’. Working both outdoors and indoors depending on weather, the Club offers year-round activities such as the annual rejuvenation of balcony planter boxes for residents, growing and harvesting food to share, creating Lilac Syrup (which was delicious by the way!), making origami paper flowers or simply spending time outside in the garden admiring the huge Turkish Poppies amongst others.

My visit and chat with both the Garden Therapist and some residents demonstrated the value of having a garden in a home that is no longer purely your ‘own’, but rather a shared one. It is a domestic atmosphere that doesn’t focus on the care one is receiving, but rather enhances social connection and integration into ‘normal’ spaces and activities - a typical daily life. The garden is clearly a treasured space and certainly one of beauty, that draws residents, staff and families outdoors. Thank you for letting me visit!