Adapted gardening workshops helping horticultural therapy flourish in Montpellier

A training program

Another activity involves workshops reserved for people with neurodegenerative diseases, in partnership with France Alzheimer, or for autistic children from the Parents-Thèse school in Jacou, accompanied by their aids.

“Our goal is for them to have a good stimulating time outdoors, in contact with nature,” adds the association’s director.

In 2016, Sonia Trinquier set up a multi-disciplinary scientific committee with gerontologist Professor Claude Jeandel, in charge of evaluating the benefits of horticultural therapy. She would like to develop the practice, which is not yet recognized by the medical community. Her efforts at the retirement home in Montpellier’s Grisettes neighborhood are helping to transform the outside space into a garden designed for therapeutic purposes. She has developed a training program to pass on these new practices, with support from the National Federation of Gardens, Nature, and Health, of which her association is a founding member. There are still more seeds to be sown!