RESEARCH
Gardening as a Mental Health Intervention: A Review
Summary
This review looks at the evidence for using gardening as a way to help people with mental health difficulties. The authors explain that there’s been a growing interest in this approach, with more and more gardening projects being set up to support vulnerable people. They mention that even in the 1800s, gardening was considered helpful in mental health institutions. The paper points out that past reviews of this topic found limited strong proof that gardening actually works. So, the main goal of this paper was to look at the more recent research to see what benefits have been reported and how good the research studies are.
To do this, the researchers searched through many databases to find studies published since 2003 that evaluated gardening projects for adults with mental health issues. They looked at what the gardening activities involved, any theories behind why they might work, what positive effects were reported, and how well the studies were conducted. They found ten relevant studies, all of which suggested that gardening had positive effects, such as reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. People who participated in these projects also reported a range of benefits in their emotions, social lives, job prospects, physical health, and even their sense of connection to nature. The authors conclude that while the research has improved, there’s still a need for even better studies to fully understand the value of gardening for mental health.
