Elderly Who Received Horticulturel Therapy

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Horticultural Therapy (HT) method refers to the process of using gardening as a method to maintain and improve the existing health status of the individual, which can be applied by healthcare professionals. Horticultural therapy method is an application that positively contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, emotional processes and entertainment processes of the elderly. Collins and O 'Callaghan (2008 ) and Yao and Chen (2016) showed that older individuals with serious illness and weakness had improved health outcomes when they were busy with plants. In a study by Yao and Chen (2016); Individuals aged 65 years and older were treated with HT once a week for eight weeks, and an increase in daily life activities, happiness and interpersonal affinity was observed. In another semi-experimental study by Tse (2010), elderly individuals were given HT for eight weeks, after which an increase in life satisfaction and social communication of the elderly and a significant decrease in loneliness were found. These results showed that HT can be used for therapeutic purposes in the elderly. While horticultural therapy is used as a therapeutic approach for the elderly in nursing homes, there is still no such study in the geography we live in. The research was planned to determine the effect of hortic culture therapy on the loneliness and happiness levels of the elderly living in the nursing home.

Detailed Description
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In recent years, the elderly population is increasing due to the decrease in the fertility rate in our country, the lifetime due to the improvement in health conditions, the prevention of diseases before they occur as a result of the developments in medicine and technology and that they can be treated successfully even if they occur. In our country, due to rapid population growth, industrialization and urbanization, transformation into a nuclear family due to internal and external migration, the presence of economic problems, women's participation in working life, young people's perspective on old age, intergenerational communication disorders and addiction make the home care of the elderly difficult and the elderly are placed in different institutions from the family environment. The opportunities of the elderly who go to the institution to get to know and adapt to the environment are lost, and the elderly individual may have feelings such as isolation, loneliness and feeling worthless. The phenomenon of loneliness is seen in all age groups, but it is a problem specific to the elderly. Loneliness is a common and disturbing problem for many elderly people. The emotional support of elderly individuals is not sufficient, and their friendship relationships are limited, which increases their loneliness. Social support systems, elderly caregivers and healthcare professionals play an important role in coping with loneliness problems and high levels of happiness in the nursing home. Horticultural Therapy (HT) method refers to the process of using gardening as a method to maintain and improve the existing health status of the individual, which can be applied by healthcare professionals. Horticultural therapy method is an application that positively contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, emotional processes and entertainment processes of the elderly. Collins and O 'Callaghan (2008 ) and Yao and Chen (2016) showed that older individuals with serious illness and weakness had improved health outcomes when they were busy with plants. In a study by Yao and Chen (2016); Individuals aged 65 years and older were treated with HT once a week for eight weeks, and an increase in daily life activities, happiness and interpersonal affinity was observed. In another semi-experimental study by Tse (2010), elderly individuals were given HT for eight weeks, after which an increase in life satisfaction and social communication of the elderly and a significant decrease in loneliness were found. These results showed that HT can be used for therapeutic purposes in the elderly.

Official Title
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The Effect Of Horticultural Therapy On The Level Of Happiness And Loneliness Of Elderly Living In Nursing Home

Conditions
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Horticultural Therapy, Elderly, Happiness, Loneliness

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: horticultural therapy


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Being 65 or older Ability to understand and respond to research guidelines Ability to act independently No known allergic disease. Exclusion Criteria: Having a diagnosed psychiatric disease

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 65 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: elderly people to undergo hortic culture therapy<br>Horticultural Therapy will be applied to the elderly in the experimental group in the form of two days a week visit for eight weeks. Flower and vegetable seedlings suitable for the season will be planted in the garden with the elderly. The elderly will be asked to take care of the plants they planted every day (irrigation and collecting extra herbs) and the elderly people will be observed by doing these processes twice a week | Behavioral: horticultural therapy<br>* Flowers and vegetables will be planted with the elderly. Growth of plants planted with the elderly will be observed and maintained<br>|
| No Intervention: elderly people who will not receive horticultural therapy<br>pre-test data forms will be applied to the control group. Post-test data forms will be reapplied after 8 weeks | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The Loneliness Scale for the Elderly. | Applying garden culture treatment for the elderly who stay in the nursing home. It has been developed for use in determining the loneliness level of the elderly. The scale, which has 11 items in total, consists of two sub-dimensions: six items (2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10) of the scale, negative items that measure emotional loneliness; five items (1, 4, 7, 8, 11) are positive items that measure social loneliness. Total loneliness can be divided into four levels: Level 1; not alone / feeling lonely (score 0-4); Level 2; acceptable loneliness (score 5-14); Level 3; very lonely (points 15-18); Level 4; Very intense loneliness (score 19-22). The lowest score to be taken from the scale is 0, the highest score is 22. The Cronbach's alpha of the scale is α = .85. | 6 months | 
| The Subjective Happiness Scale. | Applying radicultural therapy for the elderly who stay in the nursing home. Subjective Happiness Scale consists of 4 descriptive items. Item 4 of the scale is reversed. Although there are no sub-dimensions of the scale, minimum 4 and maximum 28 points are obtained from the scale. High scores to be obtained from the scale indicate that the subjective happiness of the individual is high.Cronbach α reliability coefficient was found as .86 | 6 months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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horticultural therapy, elderly, nursing home, happiness, loneliness