Campus Location

Abilene Campus (Residential)

Date of Award

5-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Social Work

Degree Name

Master of Science

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Alan Lipps

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Erica Vasquez

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Sharon Owens

Abstract

This study is a systematic review of published research on the effectiveness of horticultural therapy and related interventions in reducing stress. Since the beginning of time, the great outdoors has been humanity’s source of thriving on earth. However, as industrialization, urbanization, technological, and digital advances continue to expand, human life has changed, resulting in many negative outcomes, such as mental health concerns related to stress and lack of outside engagement. The mental health and related health concerns in previous studies show to be depression, rumination, anxiety, mood and salivary cortisol, anger, general health, existential issues, and many more all show to be rising concerns if the world continues to stray from the great outdoors and activities related to horticultural therapy. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the current studies on the effectiveness of horticultural therapy and related interventions, validate the profession as a therapeutic intervention and rehabilitative medium, and encourage collaboration between practitioners, academicians, and research scientists.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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