Introduction

“Kitchen Garden to enrich elderly homes in Delhi” is a project of Community Health Department, Stephen’s Hospital. It was started in 2016, based on two years of excellent experience with “Adopt-A-Tree Project” under urban horticulture. The project is supported by Humana People to People Foundation India.

Aims

  • To develop individual and collective ability of elderly community for environment preservation.
  • To develop the knowledge, skills and capacity of interested elderly and community Clean and Green Activists (CCGA) regarding horticulture and kitchen garden.

Objectives

  • To hold meetings with resident elders of 10 old-age homes and to tell them the benefits of having ‘Kitchen Garden’ and to involve them in it.
  • To do need assessment of the homes regarding the type of flowers, plants to be grown.
  • Free health checkup of the elderly to develop good rapport and to detect the diseases common in the elderly.
  • Competition among the homes to give prizes to kitchen garden which have been maintained well.
  • To involve the Community Clean and Green activists(CCGA) to support the project and to pay honorarium to them.
  • To give refresher training regarding kitchen garden to elderly, CCGA, child and youth volunteers, community women and staff of community health department.

Activities being carried out

  • Meeting with Old-home residents.
  • Planting of different vegetables, plants.
  • Providing different tools, pesticides and manure etc. to the homes.
  • Health checkup of residents.
  • Filling questionnaires to assess mental health of elderly.
  • Distribution of booklets and pamphlets regarding plants.
  • Showing them poster and charts to give training.
  • Refreshment distribution to elderly residents and staff of the homes.