Sadequa Shahrook¹* and Jessica Sine²

¹Global Health, Population Health Research Institute, A Joint Institute of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, David Braley Cardiac, Vascular and Stroke Research Institute (DBCVSRI), Hamilton, Canada.
²Contracts Department, Population Health Research Institute, A Joint Institute of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

*Corresponding Author: Sadequa Shahrook, Global Health, Population Health Research Institute, A Joint Institute of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, David Braley Cardiac, Vascular and Stroke Research Institute (DBCVSRI), Hamilton, Canada. E-Mail: Sadequa.Shahrook@phri.ca

Received: December 20, 2017; Published: January 12, 2018

Citation: Sadequa Shahrook and Jessica Sine. “Innovative Health and Social Care Model for Improving Quality of Life for Patients, Employees and Community: Evidence from Hamilton, Canada”. Acta Scientific Nutritional Health 2.2 (2018).

Abstract

Background: We aim to describe a recently launched innovative health and social care model initiated at the Hamilton General Hospital campus, Canada, with the following objectives: (1) to help promote recovery and quality of life of patients with chronic diseases through a therapeutic garden; and to reduce food insecurity and improve access to nutritious food options in the local community by supplying fresh organic vegetables from the garden; (2) to improve quality of life of employees across the campus.

Materials and Methods: Qualitative or descriptive report using a before-and-after design.

Results: Over 700 volunteer hours were required for the project implementation. Three Site Coordinators managed the garden operations and coordinated 63 staff volunteers (June 20 - October 19, 2017). Some 15 therapists, patients and families volunteered. Fresh organic vegetables (> 956 pounds) e.g. green onions, swiss chard, carrots and tomatoes were harvested and donated to neighbourhood food banks/kitchens yielding meals for some 797 hungry people. Future participation and positive ambience on physical and mental state was expressed by the majority of volunteers.

Conclusion: Our project can ultimately help improve therapeutic care for patients, employees’ work-place physical activity, including food insecurity and nutrition status in the vulnerable community and beyond, if adopted, especially in resource-limited settings, where projects with similar multiple benefits can be more useful.

Keywords: Innovative Health and Social Care Model; Therapeutic Garden; Before-and-After Study; Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs); Chronic Disease Patients; Food Insecurity; Fresh Vegetables; Vulnerable Community; Employees; Volunteer; Quality of Life; Sustainable Community Healthcare

Copyright: © 2018 Sadequa Shahrook and Jessica Sine. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.