• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.355-364
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• 2019

This study was conducted to find out the effects of agro-healing activities and strolling on the physiological conditions of patients with chronic metabolic diseases. A total of 11 subjects participated in agro-healing activities, and their average age was 49.6±11.3. Changes in their salivary cortisol were compared and analyzed before and after participating in the agro-healing activity program, and it was found that the stress hormone decreased after participating in the program. Differences in brain wave between before and after participating in agro-healing activities and strolling were measured, and the ratio of alpha to high beta (RAHB) of subjects increased in most of the measured points after participating in agro-healing activities. In addition, the increase in the value in the temporal lobe (T3) that controls mortor skills and occipital lobe (O2) that controls visual functions indicates that the activities were effective in improving relaxation and stability. The relative low beta (RLB) power spectrum of subjects also statistically significantly decreased in the right occipital lobe (O2) that controls visual functions, the relative mid beta (RMB) and relative high beta (RHB) power spectrum decreased in the left temporal lobe (T3) and the right occipital lobe (O2). These results indicate that the activities were effective in improving relaxation under no stress and tension. The systolic and diastolic blood pressure of subjects after participating in agro-healing activities decreased from the prehypertension level to the normal level. These results indicate that horticultural activities and visual elements in healing farms, such as agro-healing activities and strolling, have positive impacts on patients with chronic metabolic diseases accompanied with diabetes or high blood pressure by increasing the brain activity and psycho-physiological conditions of participants.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.359-363
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of gardening programs using therapeutic gardens on the fall efficacy of the elderly. This study was applied to 31 elderly facility users from April to August 2019 at a nursing home P located in Gyeonggi-do. Among the 31 participants who participated in the program, 16 subjects in the experimental group and 15 subjects in the control group were randomly selected. As for the experimental group program, a fall program consisting of fall education and strength training four times a week and a horticultural occupational program were implemented once a week in a healing garden for a total of 15 weeks. The control group performed fall program for 30 minutes 5 times a week for a total of 15 weeks. The fall efficacy of the tested group increased by 5.50 points from 29points before the program to 34.50points after the program, and statistically significant results were obtained (p=0.000). The control group who only progressed the fall program increased 3.63 points from 28.87points before the trial to 32.50points after the trial, and statistically significant results were obtained (p=0.000). From this result, it can be confirmed that the horticultural program using the treatment garden has the potential as a program related to falls. In the future, various studies are needed so that gardening programs using gardens can be applied to prevent falls of the elderly.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.425-434
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• 2019

This study was conducted to investigate psychological and physiological changes of elderly affected by agro-healing activities. To meet the purpose, we conducted an agro-healing program with 20 elderly participants (average age 77.6±5.84 men and women) and once a week in total seven sessions. The Korean version of the Brief Encounter Psychosocial Instrument (BEPSI-K), Korean version of the Short Form of Geriatric Depression Scale (SGDS-K), participants' satisfaction with the program, Salivettes system method, and blood pressure were measured to find out the effects of agro-healing activities. BEPSI-K decreased by 5% in the high stress group although it was not statistically significant. The result of program satisfaction showed that 75% of the participants are satisfied with these activities. We investigated how many and what kind of chronic diseases the participants have had before they joined the program. As a result, hypertension was most common(35.6%), followed by hyperlipidemia, diabetes, arthritis, lumbago, osteoporosis, and heart disease. Systolic blood pressure after the activities decreased significantly from 144.75mmHg (stage 1 hypertension), to 132.90mmHg(prehypertension stage). As a result of analyzing the correlations between general matters such as age, education level, average income of the participants, psychological scale and number of diseases, it was found that participants' satisfaction had a negative correlation with depression. In conclusion, agro-healing is very useful in relieving stress or lowering blood pressure for the elderly whose most common disease is hypertension. Agro-healing activities are proved to have positive uses in reducing the problems of the modern society with severe issues of the aging population.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.35-46
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the horticultural therapy program on patients with mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia depending on the frequency and duration of the interventions. We developed the same 15-session program to improve cognitive functions and life satisfaction and alleviate depression of the elderly women with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia. Subjects in Longer Treatment group participated in the program once a week for 15 weeks and subjects in Shorter Tratmet group participated twice a week for 7½ weeks. This study conducted pretest-posttest verification of both groups using quasi-experimental design involving 21 subjects. Elderly life satisfaction, Geriatric Depression Scale (short form), and the Korean Version of Consortium to Establish a Registry of Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD-K) were used in the evaluation. As a result, both groups showed an increase in life satisfaction, and a decrease in depression. However, there was a significant difference in the changes of the CERAD-K scores between the two groups (p < .05). In Longer Treatment group, life satisfaction increased significantly (p < .001), and depression decreased at a marginally significant level (p = .068), but no statistically significant change was observed in neurocognitive function. In Shorter Treatment group, life satisfaction increased at a marginally significant level (p = .059), and depression and CERAD-K scores decreased significantly (p < .05). However, in the case of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-K), there was no significant change in both groups. According to these results, when planning a horticultural therapy program for persons with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia, it is effective to organize and execute the program by determining the duration of intervention as 3 to 4 months or longer, even if this reduces the number of interventions per week.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.267-276
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• 2020

Background and objective: Agro-healing is crucial with urban farming in the domestic. It is beyond the conventional agriculture. This study was carried out to assess the 2010s researches on domestic agro-healing and predict the future direction of agro-healing development. Methods: Among the articles published from 2010 to 2018, we collected some articles by searching keywords including agro-healing, garden activity, gardening, horticultural activity, horticultural program, horticultural therapy, plant effect, plant environment, plant growing program, plant impact, social gardening, urban agriculture and vegetable garden activity, selected 83 articles that were evaluated in advance, and analyzed by frequency analysis, t-test, and one-way ANOVA with SPSS 20.0. Results: Agro-healing journal articles were published the most in 2010, and have declined since then. In the classification according to the academic society, most of the journal articles were published by the Society for People, Plants, and Environment. The main targets of domestic agro-healing related to activities and programs were preschoolers, children and adolescents, accounting for 52.4% of the total. By the characteristics of the subjects, agro-healing programs and studies were conducted with special participants who needed special care compared to the general participants. The dependent variables were classified into six areas according to their attributes and the share of psychological and emotional areas was highest (42.6%) among them. In terms of the composition of the program, the share of those with 9-12 sessions was highest (36.7%) and the share of those with more than 20 participants was also highest (39.8%). Conclusion: It is recommended to operate agro-healing programs or industries focusing on the socially disadvantaged including those who have special needs or the underprivileged, but in order to create income for farms and expand the demand for agro-healing, it will be necessary to spread the perception that anyone without any physical or emotional issue can be the targets of and experience agro-healing. To meet the different needs of targets of agro-healing, it will be necessary to conduct objective and practical studies on broader areas and in the process the healing functions of agriculture and the strength of agro-healing needs to be further highlighted.

• 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.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.291-296
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of gardening programs using vertical gardens on helplessness, depression, and self-esteem in patients with chronic mental disorders. This study was applied to 21 patients with chronic mental disorder who were admitted to the rehabilitation hospital of E Hospital in Seoul from June to October 2018. The group was treated as an experimental group (N = 21) 5 times a week. For 20 weeks, each session lasted 30 minutes. Patients in the experimental group programmed 4 sessions of general occupational therapy, which combined treatments to improve cognition and training, and 1 session of a horticultural program using a vertical garden. Helplessness, depression, and self-esteem were evaluated for pre and post evaluation of the horticultural program. After completing the program, the average score of helplessness in the experimental group decreased by 0.91 points from 47.38 to 46.47, and there was a statistically significant change (p=0.043). The mean score of depression in the experimental group was 9.23 before and after 9.08, which was statistically significant (p = 0.035). The average score of self-esteem in the experimental group increased by 3.14 points from 27.99 to 31.13 at a statistically significant level (p = 0.001). This result suggests that a gardening program using vertical gardens has an effect on helplessness, depression, and self-esteem in patients with chronic mental disorders. And this means that long-term plans and effective programs for recovery from chronic mental disorders to the community are needed. With a horticultural work program using a vertical garden, the helplessness of the mentally impaired in a closed treatment space is restored, and such treatment space needs to be increased.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.322-327
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• 2013

The genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of eleven herbaceous peonies grown in Korea were analyzed by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Twenty-four decamer RAPD primers were used in a comparative analysis of these Korean peony species. Of the 142 total RAPD fragments amplified, 124 (87.3%) were found to be polymorphic. The remaining 18 fragments were found to be monomorphic (12.7%) shared by individuals of all 11 peony species. Cluster analysis based on the presence or absence of bands was performed by Jaccard's similarity coefficient, based on Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Averages. Genetic similarity range was 0.39 to 0.90 with a mean of 0.64. This study offered a rapid and reliable method for the estimation of variability among different peony species which could be utilized by the breeders for further improvement of the local peony species. Also, the results propose that the RAPD marker technique is a useful tool for evaluation of genetic diversity and relationship amongst different peony species.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.73-86
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• 2020

In the modern era, the elementary schools in the Republic of Korea are advanced with the competitive world. Thus advancement in technology, and other factors in the elementary schools are releases some kind of particulate matter (PM), which causes deleterious effects on school students health, academic program, growth and development. The school students are susceptible to PM particularly, PM₁₀ and PM_2.5. Based on this hazardous effect of PM on school students we conducted the research on the elementary schools class rooms by introducing vertical gardening system to get the schools "ever green". The main aim of this study is to investigate the environmental factors in the educational effect program in the class rooms and indoor air quality changes. For the educational effect, the 4th operation program was applied to 2 schools for 2 hours once a month from September to December 2019. Each school conducted a survey on satisfaction, plant friendliness, and environmental sensibilities, targeting classes that participated in the green school program and those who did not. The environmental effects were monitored by installing indoor air quality facility in the program participating classes and the non-participating classes. From November 2019 to December 2019, three factors were measured: PM10, PM2.5, and humidity. The results were analyzed by T-test using the SPSS 24.0 software program. As a result of the analysis, student's overall satisfaction with the program and their intention to re-engage were high in terms of educational effect. It was also found to be effective in emotional, educational, social, and physical aspects. In particular, it was found that there was a statistically significant effect on improving plant friendliness in terms of plant friendliness and environmental sensitivity. In terms of environmental effects, it was found that there was a significant difference between the program-applied and non-programmed classes in PM10, PM2.5, and humidity. Through this study, it was confirmed that the plant education program using vertical gardens is effective in both the educational effect and the improvement of indoor air quality in the classroom. In conclusion, vertical gardening system in the elementary schools should implement for the beneficial of young generation development and back bone to the nation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Entomolohy Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.74-74
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• 2002