Process and Outcomes of Horticultural Therapy for People With Disabilities

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Mental Disorders, Severe; Intellectual Disability
• Interventions: Behavioral: Horticultural therapy; Other: Comparison

• Registration Number: NCT04917666
• Lead Sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Brief Summary

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.

Detailed 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.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2019-09-01
• Primary Completion: 2020-09-30
• Study Completion: 2021-01-29
• Status Verified: 2021-03
• Study First Submitted: 2021-04-01
• Study First Submitted QC: 2021-06-01
• Last Update Submitted: 2021-06-01
• Study First Posted: 2021-06-08
• Last Update Posted: 2021-06-08

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 50

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.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Treatment	Horticultural therapy	Participants joined a 8-session horticultural therapy group program (60 minutes per session) over 8 weeks.
Comparison	Comparison	Participants joined 4 sessions of individual, parallel, and table-top activities of their own interest, e.g. reading, drawing, coloring.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in Perceived Benefits of Horticultural Therapy	Pre-test, Postest (8 weeks from pre-test), Change from Pretest to Posttest is assessed	This is a opinion survey developed by the clinical setting to collect participants' attitude toward horticultural therapy. It has 7 items and participants are asked to respond using a five-point scale ranging from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree". The average score ranges from 1 to 5, and a higher score indicates that the participant perceived the benefits of horticulture therapy as higher.
Change in Mental Well-being	Pre-test, Postest (8 weeks from pre-test), Change from Pretest to Posttest is assessed	Chinese Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (C-SWEMWBS). The C-SWEMWBS uses a five-point Likert scale. The average scores for the scale ranges between 1 and 5, and a higher score indicates better mental well-being.
Change in Engagement in Meaningful Activity Scale (EMAS)	Pre-test, Postest (8 weeks from pre-test), Change from Pretest to Posttest is assessed	Engagement in Meaningful Activity Scale (EMAS). The EMAS has 12 items measured on a four-point Likert scale. The average score for the scale is 1- 4 and a higher score indicates higher engagement.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Wong Chuk Hang Complex; 🇭🇰 Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong