Process and Outcomes of Horticultural Therapy for People With Disabilities

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Intellectual Disability; Mental Disorders, Severe

Treatments: Other: Comparison; Behavioral: Horticultural therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04917666

HSEARS20191030004

Details and patient eligibility

About

Horticultural therapy (HT) "is the engagement of a client in horticulture activities facilitated by a trained therapist to achieve specific and documented treatment goals" (American Horticultural Therapy Association, 2012). People's interactions with plants, through goal-orientated horticultural activities in the form of active gardening, as well as the passive appreciation of nature, could be therapeutic to people with mental or intellectual disabilities in many ways (Eling, 2006; Parkinson, Lowe, & Vecsey, 2011). This study aims to conduct evaluation studies of HT group programmes for care home residents with severe mental illness.

Full description

This is a randomized, single-blind, controlled study in which the outcomes of the horticultural therapy program is compared with a comparison group. Outcome measures were compared at Pre-intervention and post-intervention.

Enrollment: 50 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• diagnosis of severe mental disorder, e.g. schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder.
• age 18 - 65.
• care home resident

Exclusion criteria

• organic brain disorder
• difficulties in communication for joining horticultural activity.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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50 participants in 2 patient groups

Treatment

Experimental group

Description:

Participants joined a 8-session horticultural therapy group program (60 minutes per session) over 8 weeks.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Horticultural therapy

Comparison

Other group

Description:

Participants joined 4 sessions of individual, parallel, and table-top activities of their own interest, e.g. reading, drawing, coloring.

Treatment:

Other: Comparison