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.
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.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
50
Flowers and vegetables will be planted with the elderly. Growth of plants planted with the elderly will be observed and maintained
Istanbul Unıversıty- Cerrahpaşa
Istanbul, Istanbul/ Şişli, Turkey (Türkiye)
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.
Time frame: 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
Time frame: 6 months
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