PURPOSE: This study was designed to examine the effects of horticultural therapy program on state-anxiety, fatigue and quality of life (QoL) of among women cancer survivors. METHODS: Quasi-experimental study was used with a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. Data were collected from February to June, 2009. Participants consisted of 40 women cancer survivors in community. The experimental group participated in horticultural therapy program once a week for 18 weeks. Data were analyzed with SPSS/WIN 18.0 program using chi2-test and t-test. RESULTS: There were significant differences between the two groups in state-anxiety and QoL. CONCLUSION: The results of this study support that horticultural therapy program was effective in decreasing state-anxiety and improving QoL among women cancer survivors.
Anxiety ; Fatigue ; Female ; Horticultural Therapy ; Humans ; Quality of Life ; Survivors

PURPOSE: The study was done to investigate effects of a horticultural therapy program on self-efficacy, stress response, and psychiatric symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: The research design was a quasi-experimental research with a nonequivalent control group non-synchronized pre-posttest. The participants were recruited from patients with schizophrenia admitted to 1 mental hospital located in D City. The research was carried out from August 3 to September 25, 2012. To test the effects of the horticultural therapy program, the participants were divided into two groups, an experimental group (29) and a control group (26). The horticulture therapy was provided to the experiment group for 60 minutes/session twice a week, for 8 weeks. Data were analyzed using Fisher's exact probability test, χ2-test, and t-test with the SPSS/WIN 12.0 program. RESULTS: After attending the horticultural therapy program, the first hypothesis was verified as the score for self-efficacy in the experimental group was significantly higher than the control group (t=2.12, p=.039). The 3rd hypothesis was verified as the score for PANSS in the experimental group was significantly lower than the control group (t=-5.20, p<.001). CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the horticultural therapy program enhanced self-efficacy and lessened psychiatric symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.
Horticultural Therapy* ; Hospitals, Psychiatric ; Humans ; Research Design ; Schizophrenia*

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of horticultural therapy by analyzing researches on horticultural therapy applied to elderly Koreans. METHODS: We evaluated 401 research papers including dissertations on horticultural therapy applied to elderly Koreans from Jan. 2000 to Feb. 2016. We reviewed the appropriate 12 papers among them for the final analysis. RESULTS: Horticultural therapy had physiological and psychosocial effects. First of all, it showed the physiological effects of reducing stress hormones. Outdoor horticultural therapy improved the gross motor movements of the body. Indoor horticulture therapy improved delicate cognitive & operating functions. Second, horticultural therapy showed the psychosocial effects of reducing depression and improving cognitive functions, language abilities, comprehension, daily activity, life satisfaction and sociality. But the effects appeared differently dependent on the implementation protocol & period of horticultural therapy, as well as the professionalism of the therapists. Therefore, if horticultural therapy were to be administered through nursing, it should be based on its key principle, in other words, the principle of action-interaction-response of horticultural therapy. CONCLUSION: The results of this study will be useful for developing therapeutic interventions through nursing. Also they will be helpful in applying horticultural therapy programs in nursing practice.
Aged* ; Cognition ; Comprehension ; Depression ; Horticultural Therapy* ; Humans ; Language ; Nursing ; Professionalism

PURPOSE: This study attempts to examine the effects of a horticultural program on activities of daily living (ADL) and depression among older patients with mild dementia. METHODS: This study adopted a quasi-experimental design-based nonequivalent control group pretest and posttest design, enrolling 30 older patients with mild dementia. The Korean Form of Geriatric Depression Scale was utilized, while the data was collected from the experimental group for 60 minutes, twice weekly for 6 weeks in 12 sessions. ADL and depression were assessed for both the experimental and the control group. Overall functions were assessed only for the experimental group. RESULTS: The experimental group showed improvement in physical function, cognitive function, as well as psychological, emotional function and social function following each session (p<.001). The horticulture program was effective in both ADL (Z²=5.65, p<.001) and depression (t=-5.24, p<.001). CONCLUSION: In this study, the horticultural therapy based on the Cox's interaction model had positive effects for older patients with mild dementia. Therefore, horticultural therapy may be commendably applied to older patients with mild dementia as a nursing intervention.
Activities of Daily Living ; Cognition ; Dementia* ; Depression* ; Horticultural Therapy ; Humans ; Nursing

PURPOSE: This study was to analyze the characteristics and effect size of intervention studies in reference to cancer pain. METHODS: In order to conduct a meta-analysis, a total of 208 studies were retrieved from search engine. And 29 studies published from 2000 to 2010 were selected upon their satisfaction with the inclusion criteria. The data was analyzed by the RevMan 5.0 program of Cochrane library. RESULTS: 1) Intervention studies included 7 studies on reflexology (24.1%), 5 for pain management education (17.2%), 3 studies for each music therapy, spiritual care and hand massage (10.3%, respectively), and 2 studies for each hospice and horticultural therapy (6.7%, respectively). 2) The effect size of the intervention studies were high in hand massage (d=-0.98), reflexology (d=-0.74), spiritual care (d=-0.72), pain management education (d=-0.66), music therapy (d=-0.41), and horticultural therapy (d=-0.32). CONCLUSION: This study suggest that non-drug therapy can reduce the levels of cancer pain intensity, even though the numbers of intervention studies and randomized controlled trials are very rare.
Hand ; Horticultural Therapy ; Hospices ; Clinical Trial ; Massage ; Music Therapy ; Pain Management ; Search Engine

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to review research trends and show the developmental direction of studies on dementia and nursing interventions for demented elders. METHODS: This study analyzed 104 articles on dementia and 23 on nursing interventions for demented elders published until 2007. RESULTS: These dementia studies increased in quantity after 1996, mainly in studies on demented elders and their families and in quantitative studies. Nursing intervention methods were music, light, horticultural therapy, reminiscence and complex therapeutic program, etc. There were experimental studies after 1996, but non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was 8(34.8%) of 23(100.0%). The medium sample size was 16.6 for experimental groups, 13 for control groups. The experimental time range was 10-120 minutes a day, frequency was 1-18 a week, and the total frequency was 4-72. The result variables were cognitive function, dementia behavior, emotion, depression, ADL, social behavior, etc. CONCLUSION: The findings of this review suggest that studies on dementia have been improved in quantity since 1996, but various and effective research methods should be developed as a way to further improve the quality of studies.
Activities of Daily Living ; Dementia* ; Depression ; Horticultural Therapy ; Humans ; Clinical Trial ; Music ; Nursing* ; Sample Size ; Social Behavior

The reference study was performed to investigate the nursing importance which was based a theoretical background related to horticultural therapy and to examine the possibility which horticultural therapy was applicable as a nursing intervention through analysis on a preceding study. The research subjects related to the areas of horticultural therapy which related as a nursing intervention, were psychological, physical, environmental, and psycho-social aspects. It is judged that the horticultural therapy is effective in treating depression, emotional disruption or anxiety. It seems to be also effective in increasing the muscular tension and, thereby, expanding the scope of joint movements. Such theories show that horticultural therapy may be a good alternative nursing means. Plants act to create a pleasant interior atmosphere by generating anion, controlling the temperature and humidity and purifying the air, and therefore, the horticultural therapy may be applied to clinic or environmental therapy. When horticultural therapy is used as a nursing intervention, patients' socio-psychological needs may be fulfilled. It has been found that horticultural therapy is instrumental in treating perceptive or emotional disruption, depression, loss of self-respect, disrupted everyday activities and social behaviors. In particular, horticultural therapy seems to be effective in managing chronic patients' crisis or improving life quality. Intervention method applied on a preceding study was activity therapy and scene therapy in the horticultural therapy The above findings suggest that the pro-environmental horticultural therapy is useful as a new paradigm of nursing or holistic nursing conducive to improvement of health. So, it is desirable to prove its effects by applying it in the clinic. In order to apply horticultural therapy as a nursing intervention, it will be necessary to educate nurses on principles and methods of horticultural therapy and encourage them to apply it in nursing and clinics. Moreover, it may well be necessary to develop landscape therapy as nursing intervention as well as a variety of horticultural therapy programs befitting the clinic conditions. On the other hand, we need to provide for some scientific ground for horticultural therapy through continued studies. In this regard, this study which focuses on patients' health improvement through change of environment. may well provide for a framework for such studies.
Anxiety ; Atmosphere ; Depression ; Hand ; Holistic Nursing ; Horticultural Therapy* ; Humans ; Humidity ; Joints ; Muscle Tonus ; Nursing* ; Quality of Life ; Research Subjects ; Social Behavior

Horticulture therapy employs plants and gardening activities in therapeutic and rehabilitation activities and could be utilized to improve the quality of life of the worldwide aging population, possibly reducing costs for long-term, assisted living and dementia unit residents. Preliminary studies have reported the benefits of horticultural therapy and garden settings in reduction of pain, improvement in attention, lessening of stress, modulation of agitation, lowering of as needed medications, antipsychotics and reduction of falls. This is especially relevant for both the United States and the Republic of Korea since aging is occurring at an unprecedented rate, with Korea experiencing some of the world's greatest increases in elderly populations. In support of the role of nature as a therapeutic modality in geriatrics, most of the existing studies of garden settings have utilized views of nature or indoor plants with sparse studies employing therapeutic gardens and rehabilitation greenhouses. With few controlled clinical trials demonstrating the positive or negative effects of the use of garden settings for the rehabilitation of the aging populations, a more vigorous quantitative analysis of the benefits is long overdue. This literature review presents the data supporting future studies of the effects of natural settings for the long term care and rehabilitation of the elderly having the medical and mental health problems frequently occurring with aging.
Aged ; Aging ; Antipsychotic Agents ; Dementia ; Dihydroergotamine ; Gardening ; Geriatrics ; Horticultural Therapy ; Humans ; Korea ; Long-Term Care ; Mental Health ; Quality of Life ; Republic of Korea ; United States