This co-production pilot project, located in the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) – Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, is part of our broader initiative to enhance wellbeing, working with nature. This pilot aims to establish a model for integrating nature-based interventions within high-stress healthcare environments, providing a framework for sustainable improvements.
We are investigating how to effectively and meaningfully integrate the PICU-ECOFLORET toolkit into daily staff activities to measure both human and environmental health, as well as determining the infrastructure requirements of the PICU as a Living Lab.
The figure below illustrates the ECOFLORET modules we are using to assess objective and subjective human and nature health:
The project is structured into two phases:
- Phase 1 involves the co-production of the research design and garden planning
- Phase 2, a research study, will depend on the results and impacts of Phase 1 and the availability of resources among the stakeholders involved.
PICU – Phase 1
Central to this initiative are the E-Co-Flourishing principles, which emphasise reciprocal benefits for human and environmental health, applied through a pragmatic approach in real-world settings. Our research integrates with a 7-week therapeutic garden co-design programme of our NHS partners, with weekly sessions focused on themes such as nature connection, horticulture, soil health, and garden planning. Each week, our approach is reviewed and adjusted following an iterative design process.
Photo credit: K. Wilhelm
