The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Designers: Tejan Diwanji, Michael Murray
Client Coordinator: Allison Darwin, OT Carolina Meadows

INTRODUCTION:

Carolina Meadows is a multifunctional living community that provides housing and recreational facilities for the elderly that range from totally independent-living houses and apartments, to intensive care facilities. There was a need to improve a garden area located in the center of the intensive care facility to allow for easier access for the assisted living residents to use the area effectively. We have designed and installed an accessible garden bed and hanging apparatus for planters and birdfeeders.

The previous raised garden bed allowed for residents in wheelchairs to pull up alongside the garden bed to work but to do this they would have to twist their body in ways that could potentially cause harm or be uncomfortable for the person. We designed a new garden bed so that the resident can pull right underneath the bed and have full range of motion to work anywhere they please without stress, strain, or contortion of the upper body.

The hanging planter and birdfeeder operates with a pulley and winch system, which allows for residents to adjust the height so that they can attend to these items, be it watering plants, clipping dead leaves, or refilling the birdfeeder with seeds. The garden bed and the hanging basket help the residents to use everyday activities such as gardening to exercise, maintain mobility, and retain a feeling of independence.

Figure 1: Garden bed, showing an open drawer that hold gardening tools.

Figure 2: Hanging planter, controlled by pulley system so that residents can access it from their wheelchair.

SUMMARY OF IMPACT

The client coordinator stated, “The wheelchair accessible raised garden bed will allow residents of Carolina Meadows’ Health Care Center to actively engage in gardening activities, regardless of ability. Prior to the construction of this bed, residents who use wheelchairs did not have an adequate way to functionally and naturally participate in gardening activities due to the inability of getting close enough to a garden bed to interact with the soil and plants. We hope that this addition to our existing courtyard will enhance activities programming for Health Care Center residents and enrich overall quality of life for these older adults.”

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

The garden bed is made out of 5 sheets of ¾” x 4” x 8” pressure treated plywood supported in the corners by 2” x 2” lumber and across the top by 2” x 4” lumber all held together by 2 inch galvanized deck screws. It consists of three main pieces: two boxes measuring about 17” x 33” x 35” for the bases and a third piece spanning the gap between the bases that allows for about 6 inches of soil to be placed on top of this piece. The space allowed within the two bases where the resident will be able to pull under is about 29” from side to side and roughly 27” from bottom to top.

Two drawers were built into the bed so that tools can be stored on hooks, easily accessible to an individual at the garden bed. They were constructed using pressure treated plywood, 1 ¼ inch stainless steal screws, and 2 sets of drawer slides. A drawer box was made to place the drawers in, which was connected to the base and the top piece on the inner right side for support. The drawer boxes were constructed with pressure treated plywood and 2 inch galvanized screws.

For the pulley system about 24 feet of 1/8 inch plastic coated steel cable was held up by two steel pulleys each with the capability of holding over 55 lbs. To allow for easy movement of the hanging item a 2 way boat winch was used. This way the load can be raised and lowered with easy and without the potential for the load to slip and fall while it was being lowered or raised.

Total cost was about $400. One of the residents of the facility, Bob Newton, helped with construction and installation. It was constructed in the Carolina Meadows woodshop.