• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.145-157
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• 2019

This study was conducted to examine the effects of horticultural therapy on depression and emotional balance of women with hearing impairment. Ten women with hearing impairment registered in the Mokpo branch of the Korean Association of the Hearing Impaired were selected, and participated in the horticultural therapy program composed of 14 sessions from May 15 to July 31. The horticultural therapy program consisted of 'planting tropical orchids,' 'making a dish garden,' 'making plum pickles,' 'decorating a table with flowers,' 'making a hanging pot with succulent plants,' 'making pressed flowers with hydrangea,' 'making a fan with pressed flowers,' 'making a terrarium,' 'making a flower basket,' 'making a mosquito repellent spray,' 'decorating a heart-shaped cup with flowers,' 'making a natural herbal soap,' 'making a hydrangea bouquet' and 'making watermelon salad.' The depression and emotional balance scales were used to examine the effects of the program and the pre- and post-program scores were compared. The mean value of depression statistically significantly decreased from 49.0 points before the program to 43.9 points after the program. In addition, the mean value of emotional balance statistically significantly increased from 0.3 points before the program to 2.3 points after the program. The activity of drawing a picture after each session was effective in reducing depression and improving positive emotional balance by expressing emotions through pictures. The programs preferred by women with hearing impairment included 'making plum pickles,' 'making pressed flowers with hydrangea,' 'planting tropical orchids,' 'making a mosquito repellent spray,' 'making a natural herbal soap,' and 'making watermelon salad.' In conclusion, horticultural therapy programs were effective in reducing depression and improving emotional balance of women with hearing impairment.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1437-1444
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• 2010

This research was to find out the effectiveness of the horticultural therapy program based on the therapeutic factors and the most meaningful experiences of the clients. For this purpose "Green harmony" program focused on harmony through horticulture was implemented. It is based on the preposition that holistic health is promoted with harmonious relationships with oneself, other people, community and nature. The program has three-fold structure: In innermost it deals with the task of the late adolescent, i.e., self identity, secondly the experience of communication and solidarity in the group, and finally extension of interest to the community. For the therapeutic intervention, questions using the metaphor of the activity were given to the clients for the establishment of self-identity, while group activity and the donation of the works let the second and third purpose accomplished. Outdoor activity, 'Tire garden project', has provided the clients with chances of the contact with nature, cooperation with other group members, and a contest to provoke enthusiasm. Also recycling and greening of the community were possible by utilizing old tires for the containers and by donating the final works to the community. For the evaluation of the result, the effect of the program on the stress of the college students was tested, and the most meaningful experiences during the participation to the program were asked to identify the therapeutic factors acknowledged by clients. "Green harmony" program has brought positive effects on the stress of the clients in spite of relatively short period of five weeks. The clients has acknowledged plant/nature contact and interactions between group members for the most meaningful experiences. This research suggests "Green harmony" horticultural therapy program based on the therapeutic factors is highly applicable for the general populations.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.69-82
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• 2003

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effect of horticultural therapy on cognitive function, self-esteem, depression and activities of daily living of elderly with dementia. Method: The research design was an one group pre and post-test study design. The subjects of this study were 7 elderly with dementia in K elderly institution in Daegu. Instruments used in this research were MMSE-K(Mini-mental state Examination Korean Version) developed by Kwon & Park, SES(Self-Esteem Scale) developed by Rosenberg. SDS(Self-Rating Depression Scale) developed by Zung and BADL(Bathel Activity Daily Living) developed by Bethel. One-hour horticultural therapy was offered to the study participants weekly for 12 weeks. Results: The results showed that self-esteem was significantly increased after the horticultural therapy. However, in terms of cognitive function. depression and ADL, there was no significant change after the horticultural therapy among these elderly. Conclusion: In this research. there were no obvious change in cognitive function. depression, and ADL after the horticultural therapy among participants. Although the difference was not statistically significant. descriptive statistics showed some difference in scores on these variables after the intervention. So, it is suggested to conduct a further research with larger samples and pre and post-test design with control group.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.701-707
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• 2010

To analyze the effectiveness of horticultural therapy reported in research papers, a meta-analysis was carried out with 108 of 377 Korean and overseas research papers on horticultural therapy from 1985 to February 2009 (196 Korean dissertations, 113 Korean journal articles, 5 overseas dissertations, and 63 overseas journal articles). The results revealed a large effect size of 0.71. The effectiveness according to the type, age and number of participants were also analyzed. The therapy was most effective in children, and it was more beneficial for children with special needs and elderly people affected by dementia than for the typical population. The greatest effect was found with group sizes of five people or less, and when carried out by researchers from departments related to horticultural therapy than by researchers from unrelated fields of study. The most effective horticultural therapy programs involved floral decorations; and participants who took part in 21 to 30 sessions or at least 31 sessions benefited the most. Among the main effects of short-term horticultural therapy are cognitive, social, physical and emotional; the greatest effect was observed in the physical domain.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.565-576
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• 2020

Background and objective: The elderly living in homeless living facilities for a long time suffer from various mental health problems. This study aims to determine the psychological, emotional, and social effects of a horticultural therapy program composed of gardening activities, which was designed based on the semantic structures of life for the homeless elderly living in the facilities for a long time. Methods: A total of 12 subjects (6 in the control group and 6 in the experimental group) participated in the study. The horticultural therapy program consisted mainly of gardening activities, and a total of 16 sessions were conducted once a week for 16 weeks, 60-90 minutes per session. The subjects were tested to evaluate their self-esteem, depression, and horticultural activities. The data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon rank test, and Friedman test, which were nonparametric tests, conducted at a 95% significance level. Results: First, in the case of self-esteem, a significant difference was found between the groups, 20.00 points (SD = 5.69) in the control group, and 25.50 points (SD = 3.73) in the experimental group (p = .034). Second, in the case of depression, no statistically significant difference was found in the posttest. Finally, in the case of the horticultural activity evaluation, the scores of most variables gradually and significantly increased during the program [Verbal interaction during activity (p = .006), Self-concept and identity (p = .006), Need-drive adaptation (p < .001), Interpersonal and social relations (p < .001)]. Conclusion: These results support that the horticultural therapy program could help the elderly improve psychological relaxation, emotional stability, and social relationships. In order to generalize the results, it is suggested to increase the number of subjects or conduct additional repetitive experiments in further research.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.97-107
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to systematically review and to objectively identify the effect size in order to understand the effects of horticultural therapy on cognitive function, depression, self-esteem, and activity daily living(ADL) of dementia patients. Related studies published in Korean and English were selected by searching domestic and foreign academic databases. The risk of bias assessment of individual studies was performed on the included 18 literatures. Horticultural therapy was found to be significantly effective in cognitive function(effect size=1.06), depression(effect size=0.64), self-esteem(effect size=0.99), and ADL(effect size=1.98) in dementia care. It is expected that related experimental studies will be repeatedly conducted to produce a more objective effect size calculation.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.255-268
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• 2019

Horticultural therapy, as a kind of complementary alternative therapies using nature as a medium, is an intervention method that can be applied to various subjects by utilizing horticultural activities that anyone can enjoy as a leisure activity. This research defined the resilience of individuals as a personal characteristic, and examined differences in the intervention effect of horticultural activities depending on the level of resilience. The results obtained in this study can be utilized in planning a horticultural activity program and setting the purpose and goals of horticultural activity programs. The subjects of this study were divided into the high resilience experimental group (Group A), the low resilience experimental Group (Group C), the high resilience control group (Group B), and the low resilience control group (Group D). The experiment was conducted in the campus of G University from September to November 2017, and the experimental group participated in the program once per week, a total of 10 sessions. The Korean version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, autonomic nervous assessment, and the interpersonal relationship change scale were carried out as pre- and post-assessment. Statistical analysis was performed using a non-parametric test. Group A showed statistically significant positive changes in relaxation of physical tension and stability. In conclusion, those with high resilience showed the higher intervention effects of horticultural activities on physical relaxation and stability than those with low resilience. However, there were some possible limitations in this study. Since the number of subjects was small and subjects were limited to college students, it is impossible to generalize the results of this study. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct follow-up studies to address and overcome these limitations.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.887-900
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• 2014

This study was conducted to provide a job analysis for, and assess the job performance of horticultural therapists, as well as examine future educational needs. To this end, a chart developed using the DACUM method was chosen as the appropriate tool for the job analysis of horticultural therapists (Study 1). Based on the chart, a survey using an evaluation form was produced to investigate the current level of job performance and future required level of horticultural therapists (Study 2). A total of 8 duties and 45 tasks were classified to examine job performance, based on analysis of the DACUM Council (Study 1). These duties include A. Decide execution organization for horticultural therapy (HT) program, B. Diagnose and assess clients before starting the HT program, C. Plan HT program, D. Develop HT program, E. Prepare to implement HT program for each session, F. Implement HT program for each session, G. Implement overall assessment for HT program, and H. Develop oneself as a horticultural therapist. Their duties were broken down further into five to eight tasks per duty, totaling 45 tasks. Based on the horticultural therapist job performance sheet developed through this process, an assessment of the current job level of horticultural therapists was performed and future required level were examined (Study 2). The evaluation forms were sent to 779 horticultural therapists with level 1 or 2 certification via email or mail delivery. The analysis of 242 questionnaires (31.1%) revealed that horticultural therapists with level 1 certificates have a significantly higher job performance level for 34 of the 45 tasks. Regarding future required level, 20 out of 45 tasks were assessed as higher for level 1 horticultural therapists than level 2. In addition, a Borich formula was utilized to identify the priority of educational needs for the 45 horticultural therapist tasks. The results revealed the following top three tasks: H1. Receive feedback from the supervisor for the horticultural therapy program; A1. Distribute promotional materials about the horticultural therapy program; and H2. Submit a grant proposal for horticultural therapy program to organizations such as welfare foundations. The results of this study are anticipated to facilitate understanding and improve work conditions for current horticultural therapists or horticultural therapists-in-training. In addition, institutions that train horticultural therapists will be able to use this as basic research to develop a practical training curriculum.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.513-527
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• 2016

The objective of the present study was to review the current research about the outcomes of horticultural activity interventions in order to determine research trends and analyze the characteristics of horticultural activity interventions. We reviewed the literature using search engines such as the Web of Science, Proquest Dissertation and Theses, Academic Search Premier, Research Information sharing Service, and Korean National Assembly Digital Library to locate journal articles that include relevant search terms (e.g., gardening activity, gardening program, allotment garden, urban agriculture, horticultural therapy, and horticultural activity). We initially identified 14,414 journal articles that were published before April 2014 and selected 509 of the papers for review. We found that studies investigating treating children and adults 8 to 64 years old were the most common, and horticultural activities such as gardening outdoors, planting indoors, making crafts with live plants, arranging flowers, making crafts with artificial or pressed flowers, and other activities were usually combined. Short/medium term (11 to 20 sessions) horticultural activity programs were the most frequent, and most interventions were of medium duration (> 60 min to 120 min). Most of the studies focused on the psychological or emotional effects of horticultural intervention, such as its effects on emotional intelligence, self-esteem, stress, and depression. Further studies are needed to analyze the research methodology, specific outcomes, and strengths or weaknesses of studies investigating horticultural activity interventions.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.884-890
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• 2010

To examine the effects of horticultural occupational therapy (HOT) on the physical and psychological rehabilitation of stroke patients with paralysis on one side of the body, a horticultural therapy (HT) program was implemented along with occupational therapy (OT) in 20 patients with hemiplegia after stroke (treatment group). In the control group, another 20 patients with hemiplegia after stroke received OT but no HT. The HOT program consisted of various indoor horticultural activities that proceeded stepwise on a weekly basis over the course of four weeks. The selected horticultural occupations were organized into four-phases: motivation, adaptation, sociality, and interpersonal relationships and communication. The grooved pegboard test (GPT), geriatric depression scale (GDS), and functional independent measure (FIM) were tested to the patients in this study. Unlike control group, the treatment group showed statistically significant differences in GPT, GDS, and FIM ($p$<0.001). In addition, communication, social cognition, and self-care scores as FIM subordinate factors were improved significantly by HOT program which motivated patients to engage in rehabilitation therapy. This finding suggests that HOT has the potential to be used as an OT program for stroke patients with hemiplegia.