An interventional study of Horticultural therapy and Comparison in Mental Disorders, Severe and Intellectual Disability, sponsored by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Completed at 1 site in Hong Kong. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-06-08.
Sponsored by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
Horticultural therapy (HT) "is the engagement of a client in horticulture activities facilitated by a trained therapist to achieve specific and documented treatment goals" (American Horticultural Therapy Association, 2012). People's interactions with plants, through goal-orientated horticultural activities in the form of active gardening, as well as the passive appreciation of nature, could be therapeutic to people with mental or intellectual disabilities in many ways (Eling, 2006; Parkinson, Lowe, \& Vecsey, 2011). This study aims to conduct evaluation studies of HT group programmes for care home residents with severe mental illness.
This is a randomized, single-blind, controlled study in which the outcomes of the horticultural therapy program is compared with a comparison group. Outcome measures were compared at Pre-intervention and post-intervention.
363 studies on the registry are indexed under Intellectual Disability; 103 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 50 is close to the median of 53 across 236 interventional studies indexed under Intellectual Disability.
Browse Intellectual Disability studies →The Hong Kong Polytechnic University is the lead sponsor of 659 studies on the registry; 250 are open to participants now.
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Exclusion Criteria:
Participants joined a 8-session horticultural therapy group program (60 minutes per session) over 8 weeks.
Behavioral: Horticultural therapy
Participants joined 4 sessions of individual, parallel, and table-top activities of their own interest, e.g. reading, drawing, coloring.
Other: Comparison
A structured 8-session group therapy program, in which participants learn about plants, green spaces, plant-human interactions. During the program, the participants are guided by therapist to grow or take care of both indoor and outdoor plants, do small horticulture projects (like cooking, making drinks, herb projects).
4 session of semi-structured and free engagement in activities of their choice. The activities that they could choose are mostly table-top activities which are solitary in nature, and does not require social interaction.
Change in Mental Well-being
Chinese Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (C-SWEMWBS). The C-SWEMWBS uses a five-point Likert scale. The average scores for the scale ranges between 1 and 5, and a higher score indicates better mental well-being.
Time frame: Pre-test, Postest (8 weeks from pre-test), Change from Pretest to Posttest is assessed
Change in Engagement in Meaningful Activity Scale (EMAS)
Engagement in Meaningful Activity Scale (EMAS). The EMAS has 12 items measured on a four-point Likert scale. The average score for the scale is 1- 4 and a higher score indicates higher engagement.
Time frame: Pre-test, Postest (8 weeks from pre-test), Change from Pretest to Posttest is assessed
Change in Perceived Benefits of Horticultural Therapy
This is a opinion survey developed by the clinical setting to collect participants' attitude toward horticultural therapy. It has 7 items and participants are asked to respond using a five-point scale ranging from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree". The average score ranges from 1 to 5, and a higher score indicates that the participant perceived the benefits of horticulture therapy as higher.
Time frame: Pre-test, Postest (8 weeks from pre-test), Change from Pretest to Posttest is assessed
This study is completed, as verified in Mar 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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The Hong Kong Polytechnic University