Process and Outcomes of Horticultural Therapy for People With Disabilities

Intellectual Disability Clinical Trial

Official title:

Examining the Process and Outcomes of Horticultural Therapy for People With Severe Mental Illness, Intellectual, and Multiple Disabilities

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04917666
• Other study ID #: HSEARS20191030004
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: September 1, 2019
• Est. completion date: January 29, 2021

Study information

• Verified date: March 2021
• Source: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

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.

Description:

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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 50
• Est. completion date: January 29, 2021
• Est. primary completion date: September 30, 2020
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 65 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• diagnosis of severe mental disorder, e.g. schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder.
• age 18 - 65.
• care home resident

Exclusion Criteria:

• organic brain disorder
• difficulties in communication for joining horticultural activity.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Intellectual Disability
• Mental Disorders
• Mental Disorders, Severe

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Horticultural therapy
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).

Other:
• Comparison
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.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Hong Kong	Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Wong Chuk Hang Complex	Wong Chuk Hang

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Hong Kong, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	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.	Pre-test, Postest (8 weeks from pre-test), Change from Pretest to Posttest is assessed
Primary	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.	Pre-test, Postest (8 weeks from pre-test), Change from Pretest to Posttest is assessed
Primary	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.	Pre-test, Postest (8 weeks from pre-test), Change from Pretest to Posttest is assessed