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Dr. Kathy Helzlsouer, Director, Prevention and Research Center at Mercy

Mercy's Dr. Kathy Helzlsouer Discusses Impact of Environment/Nature on Patient Healing and Recovery

Some hospitals across the country are trying to create special spaces within a medical environment to promote a sense of well-being for patients.

According to Dr. Kathy Helzlsouer, Director, Prevention and Research Center at Mercy, open garden spaces such as Mercy's three-roof gardens in the soon-to-open Mary Catherine Bunting Center play a big part in healing.

"I refer to it as a spiritual oasis," she said. "That's true for patients and their families, or staff. You just need a break and nice environment."

More and more studies show that offering a healing environment to patients and their families can really affect someone's health, Dr. Helzlsouer said.

"I had a patient just last week who said, 'I feel like it's such an artificial environment, I can't breathe real air,'" she said. "It's true that it's body, mind and spirit."

Three years ago, Emily Meoli was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a bilateral mastectomy and 18 weeks of chemotherapy. She said it was a tough year, but Mercy's Be Well, Stay Healthy program helped her get back to being herself.

"Healing is a whole person, not just stitches and medicine. It's healing your soul and everything else that needs to be healed," Meoli said.

She said she learned a lot about relaxing during her treatment.

"One week was about relaxation methods. I still use them today. I teach them to my friends," she said.

She also loves the gardens at Mercy.

"It's so beautiful up here. It's so nice to have a calm space for everybody to have," Meoli said.

To view Dr. Helzlsouer's interview online on WBAL-TV11's "Woman's Doctor," click this link: http://www.wbaltv.com/womansdoctor/25180721/detail.html