Horticultural therapy: the garden benefits everyone

Area of Science:

• Psychiatric Nursing
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Therapeutic Horticulture

Background:

• Horticulture therapy (HT) is an adjunctive therapy utilizing plants and gardening for therapeutic benefit.
• It aims to enhance social skills, self-esteem, and leisure time utilization in individuals with mental illness.
• HT offers a safe environment for building therapeutic relationships between clients and nursing students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the role of horticulture therapy in improving client outcomes.
• To examine the benefits of HT for nursing students' practical and therapeutic skill development.
• To highlight HT's potential in fostering therapeutic communities and managing patient care.

Main Methods:

• Application of horticulture therapy principles and practices.
• Utilizing plants and gardening materials within a therapeutic setting.
• Observation and assessment of client progress and student nurse performance.

Main Results:

• Clients showed improvements in social skills, self-esteem, and leisure time engagement.
• Nursing students gained experience in therapeutic alliance development and group management.
• The nursing process was effectively applied to manage HT sessions and patient status.

Conclusions:

• Horticulture therapy is an effective adjunctive treatment for mental illness.
• HT provides significant experiential learning opportunities for nursing students.
• The integration of HT supports therapeutic community development and comprehensive patient care.