Contribution of horticultural therapy to prevent frailty for community-dwelling elderly

Prevention of frailty is essential for extending healthy life expectancy, as frailty is a trigger for conditions requiring long-term care. The recommended methods of preventing frailty include exercise therapy and carrying out activities that involve cultural and social interaction. In this study, horticultural work was selected as an activity aimed at preventing frailty. The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of horticultural therapy and the validity of the outcome measures through two case studies. The subjects were two elderly women living in the community. A total of eight interventions were carried out over a period of two months with a 120-minute program once a week. The horticultural therapy included harvesting at a eucalyptus farm and craft work for processing eucalyptus. The program consisted of health checks, preparation, horticultural therapy (eucalyptus harvesting and processing), clean-up and reflection. Before and after the intervention and two months after the end of the program, measurements were carried out on motor skills, mental/psychological functions, and lifestyle aspects. As a result, the participants’ motor function and their subjective quality of life improved, their self-efficacy increased, and they went out more frequently. The results suggest that, as frailty prevention intervention, horticultural activities may have a potential to affect the motor function of the work process, as well as on the mental and psychological functions resulting from relationships with others and a sense of achievement. In addition, since it was possible to detect changes in motor skills, mental/psychological and lifestyle aspects, the nine evaluation indices used in this study may be useful as indicators for measuring the effectiveness of horticultural occupational therapy. Based on the results obtained from this study, it will be possible to further develop horticultural therapy for the community-dwelling elderly and study the intervention methods and effectiveness indicators.