Abstract
Objective
Frail nursing home residents face multiple health challenges as a result of their
frail status. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of HT on the psychosocial
well-being of frail and prefrail nursing home residents.
Design
Randomized controlled trial.
Setting
Nursing homes.
Participants
One hundred eleven participants were randomly allocated into the intervention [horticultural
therapy (HT)] and control (social activities) conditions.
Intervention
HT group participants attended a weekly 60-minute session for 8 consecutive weeks.
Control group activities were social in nature, without any horticulture components.
Measurements
The outcome measures include happiness, depressive symptoms, self-efficacy, well-being,
social network, and social engagement. The time points of measurement were at baseline
(T0), immediately postintervention (T1), and 12 weeks postintervention (T2). A modified intention-to-treat approach was adopted. A multivariate general estimating
equation was used to analyze the data.
Results
Forty-six and 50 participants received at least 1 session of the intervention and
control condition protocol, respectively. A significant interaction effect between
group and time was observed only on the happiness scale (β = 1.457, P = .036), but not on other outcome variables. In a follow-up cluster analysis of those
who received HT, a greater effect on subjective happiness (mean difference = 6.23,
P < .001) was observed for participants who were happier at baseline.
Conclusion
HT was found to be effective in promoting subjective happiness for frail and prefrail
nursing home residents. Its favorable effect suggests that HT should be used to promote
the psychosocial well-being of those who are frail.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 24, 2018
Footnotes
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
This project was a collaborative research funded by the Pok Oi Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, PolyU no. 5-ZH1B.
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 AMDA - The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.
