The effect of intervention of horticultural course on senior high school students with mental retardation

• Main Authors: Chih-wei Ho, 何致惟
• Other Authors: Ming-Chu Pan
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/96783410438328094763

碩士 === 國立高雄大學 === 運動健康與休閒學系碩士班 === 101 === Horticultural therapy is a treatment method using plants and plant-related activities to improve the physical, mental, and social adjustment of an individual, thus improving his/her health and well-being. Research confirms that positive benefits accrue when people interact with plants and gardens.This is particularly important for people with disabilities because they will encounter many activity limitations and restrictions to participation in life situations caused by disabling condition, which result in a decrease in quality of life. The purpose of this study is to evaluate effects of horticultural activity on students with mental retardation. One-group pretest-posttest design was conducted with a sample of 12 senior high students with mental retardation at one of the Special Education School of Kaohsiung City. Horticultural intervention was given to students for 12 weeks, 2 sections per week, 150 minutes per section. Data were collected before, during, and immediately after a 12-week therapeutic horticulture program. The assessment instruments was revised from “Horticultural Therapy Evaluation Form” used at New York University Medical Center. Wilcoxon signed- rank test of non-parametric statistics were used to assess whether significant differences exist between paired means. Results have shown that students exhibited significant differences from pre to posttest on mobility, physical/perceptual abilities, social interaction, cognitive ability, emotional status, and avocational interests of Horticultural Therapy Evaluation Scale