Dementia
Category: Dementia
Title: Effectiveness of Therapeutic Gardens for People with Dementia: A Systematic Review (2021)
Link: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9595
Summary: The authors reviewed 16 quantitative studies on the benefits of visiting gardens and gardening therapy for people with dementia. Beneficial effects were found in engagement, agitation, depression/mood, stress and medication. The authors comment on the need for further research.
Category: Older adults, Dementia and Cognitive Health
Title: Effects of Horticultural Therapy on Asian Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial (2018)
Link: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15081705
Summary: 29 older adults participated in 6 months of horticultural therapy within this RCT. Comparative to the control group, these adults experienced greatly improved feelings of social connectedness. Furthermore, their blood when examined showed reduction of markers which may indicate that horticultural therapy reduced inflammation, decreasing the risk of dementia.
Category: Older adults, Dementia and Cognitive Health
Title: Comparing the Effectiveness of the Frequency and Duration of the Horticultural Therapy Program on Elderly Women with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Dementia (2020)
Link: https://doi.org/10.11628/ksppe.2020.23.1.35
Summary: The effect of a 15 session horticultural therapy program on health and well-being of women with mild cognitive impairment and dementia was examined. Results indicate that both short term treatment of 7 weeks and long term treatment of 15 weeks successfully improved participants feelings of satisfaction with life and reduced reported depression. Differences were found in the rate of improvement between these different programme lengths, leading to recommendations to have longer programmes with less weekly sessions for this specific service user group.