園藝生命回顧課程對日照中心失智症長者心理與認知功能效果之初探

Psychological and Cognitive Effects of a Horticultural Life Review Program on the Seniors with Dementia at a Day Care Center: A Preliminary Study

臺灣近幾年以失智症長者為主要服務對象之高齡者日間照顧中心紛紛成立，然而針對提昇日照中心長者生、心理功能為主之本土化輔療活動與相關研究卻付之闕如，本研究之目的為探討園藝生命回顧課程對輕中度失智症長者認知功能、憂鬱程度與自我統整之效益。研究採單組前後測之前實驗設計，以立意取樣從屏東縣某間失智型日間照顧中心招募9位輕中度失智症長者。介入方案以園藝治療為技巧，園藝植物及相關藝術、烹飪等為活動組成元素，配合艾瑞克森之生命週期階段為討論主題，設計8週之園藝生命回顧課程，每週固定時間舉行一次，一次約一小時。評估工具為簡易智能狀態測驗、老人憂鬱量表簡明版及自我統整量表，於課程進行前及結束後，分別對研究對象進行個人訪談以收集資料。研究結果發現此課程對失智長者的認知功能有顯著性提昇，而憂鬱程度及自我統整效果雖未達統計顯著性，但亦具潛在性效益，故針對失智症長者所建構之本土化園藝治療活動模式是可行且必要的。

Due to the increasing population of elders with dementia, more and more senior day care centers in Taiwan has been established recently. However, a shortage of the localizing therapeutic activities becomes an issue of the quality of care. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a horticultural life review program on the seniors with dementia. This pre- experiment study adopted one-group pretest-posttest design, and recruited 9 seniors with mild to moderate ementia from a dementia-specified day care center in Pingtung. The intervention was designed to assist elders in re-evaluating their past and current life by naturally involving with horticulture, art and cuisine activities based on Erikson's life developmental theory. The program was conducted once a week, and one hour for a session for total 8 sessions. Repeated measures were performed before and after the intervention. Data were collected by three instruments, including mini-mental status examination, geriatric depression scale, and ego-integrity scale. Results showed that cognition scores were significantly improved. The scores of depression and ego-integrity revealed a sign of improvement but failed to approve by the statistic evidence. Therefore, the horticultural life review program might be a potential intervention for the enhancement of cognitive and mental wellness. Further research to identify the solid effects of this localizing therapeutic horticulture modality is needed.