Aim:To explore the chef’s experience with a newly implemented indoor hospital-based kitchen garden designed to supplement herbs ordered for patient meals and improve staff engagement.Background:Hospital-based therapeutic and kitchen gardens have emerged as effective health-promoting tools in hospital healthcare environments. They promote emotional, mental, and physical well-being for patients, visitors, and staff. However, formal evaluations are limited, and studies focusing on indoor hospital kitchen gardens are noticeably absent in the literature.Methods:Qualitative evaluation of a hospital-based kitchen garden. Open-ended interviews were conducted approximately 6 months after garden implementation and explored key informants ( n = 6) overall experience, engagement with the garden, perceived benefits, and opportunities for improvement. Interview data was analyzed using a thematic approach.Results:The implementation of the kitchen gardens was met with overall acceptance among staff. However, the project’s feasibility faced challenges related to local food service leadership, communication, and certain aspects of the garden setup. Despite these obstacles, the gardens contributed positively to the quality of meals by including fresh herbs and fostering greater staff engagement.Conclusions:The chefs viewed the concept of the hospital-based kitchen garden favorably, noting that it closely aligned with their mission of providing nutritious meals to patients. However, consideration of the broader issues facing hospital food services may be required to seamlessly integrate this task into the kitchen staff’s daily routine. Further research is warranted to investigate the effective implementation and feasibility of indoor kitchen gardens in hospitals and their impact on patient menus, food service staff, and the workforce.

中文翻译：

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医院菜园的可行性


目的：探索厨师在新实施的医院室内菜园中的经验，该菜园旨在补充患者膳食订购的草药并提高员工参与度。背景：医院治疗和菜园已成为医院医疗保健中有效的健康促进工具环境。它们促进患者、访客和工作人员的情感、精神和身体健康。然而，正式的评估是有限的，并且文献中明显缺乏针对室内医院厨房花园的研究。方法：对医院厨房花园进行定性评估。花园实施后大约 6 个月进行了开放式访谈，探讨了关键知情人 (n = 6) 的整体经验、与花园的互动、感知的好处以及改进的机会。采用主题方法对访谈数据进行分析。结果：菜园的实施得到了员工的总体认可。然而，该项目的可行性面临着与当地餐饮服务领导、沟通和花园设置的某些方面相关的挑战。尽管存在这些障碍，花园通过添加新鲜香草和提高员工参与度，对膳食质量做出了积极贡献。结论：厨师们对医院厨房花园的概念持积极态度，并指出它与他们提供营养食品的使命密切相关给病人吃饭。然而，可能需要考虑医院食品服务面临的更广泛的问题，才能将这项任务无缝地融入厨房工作人员的日常工作中。 需要进一步的研究来调查医院室内厨房花园的有效实施和可行性及其对患者菜单、食品服务人员和劳动力的影响。