Health Benefits of Gardening

The goal of this project is to better understand how interacting and working with plants in a
group gardening activities program in a greenhouse, or a group art program that takes place
indoors and is devoid of images or depictions of plants influences the overall health and
well-being of participants.

A total anticipated study population (N = 40) will consist of up to 20 healthy women randomly
assigned to the art activities group, and up to 20 healthy women assigned to the gardening
group. There will be measurements of heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and
psychometric assessments including satisfaction of social activities at baseline and post
intervention. Heart rate and blood pressure measurements will be taken at the beginning and
end of each of the eight gardening or arts sessions. Psychometric assessments of study
participants will be conducted at baseline and post-intervention. Each treatment group will
be divided into two smaller groups of up to ten women each that will receive the gardening or
art interventions on different days of the week. The participants in the gardening or art
groups will receive an experimental intervention consisting of 8 gardening or art sessions,
each approximately 60 minutes in duration over a four week treatment period. Gardening and
art sessions will take place at the same time of day twice each week, and follow a
standardized programming sequence to ensure equivalency of intervention across all sessions.
Ambient environmental conditions in the greenhouse during the gardening sessions will be
monitored and recorded. The gardening activities will emphasize growing plants from seeds,
plant propagation techniques, transplanting, and plant-mediated taste, visual, olfactory and
touch sensory stimulation. All gardening sessions will begin with a short educational module
introducing the plants and gardening activities taking place during each session. Art
activities will include papermaking, image transfer, visual storytelling, linocut
printmaking, paper batik, mixed media collage, and sensation drawing, and begin with a short
educational module of the activity.

In addition to the pre- and post-intervention assessments and measurement, psychometric
assessments will be administered for depression symptomatology, mood states and perceived
stress at specific points during the gardening and art activities to evaluate any changes
over time resulting from the interventions. Participant heart rate and blood pressure
measurements will be made at the beginning and at the end of all gardening and art sessions.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Premenopausal women

- 26 - 49 years of age

- Not pregnant

- Non-gardener

- Non-artist

- Non-smoker

- Good Health

- Able to participate in all aspects of the study, including working with plants.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Uncomfortable in close spaces (claustrophobia)

- Allergies to plants

- Allergies to plant parts like pollen

- Allergies to plant-based foods

- No additions to alcohol or to recreational drugs or prescription medications

- Not suffering from recurring pain, and

- No diseases, disorders or disabilities that affect daily life.