Seniors’ Participation in Gardening Improves Nature Relatedness, Psychological Well-being, and Pro-environmental Behavioral Intentions

Abstract

Background and objective Mounting evidence suggests that nature-based recreation such as gardening can generate various mental and behavioral benefits. However, the benefits of gardening for older populations are largely unknown. This study aimed to assess how a seniors’ gardening program affects older people’s nature relatedness, psychological well-being, and intent to engage in pro-environmental behavior. Methods We designed a one-group pretest-posttest study. Twelve seniors in their 60s and 70s participated in a gardening program occurring in a university botanical garden for 5 months. We used a 5-point Likert scale to measure the participants’ nature relatedness, psychological well-being, and pro-environmental behavioral intentions at the beginning as well as the end of the program. We compared the pretest and posttest scores on each measure using a Wilcoxon signed-rank test for nature relatedness and paired t-tests for psychological well-being and behavioral intentions. Results Our results indicated statistically significant increases in all three outcome variables after participation in the gardening program. The median score for nature relatedness was 4.167 after program participation compared to 3.500 before participation (p < .05). Also, participants’ psychological well-being mean score increased from 3.505 to 4.009 (p < .01) while their intent to engage in pro-environmental behavior mean score increased from 4.115 to 4.427 (p < .05). Conclusion A seniors’ gardening program can be an effective way for older people to connect with nature and improve their mental health. Also, gardening can foster the capacity of the elderly to help reduce human impacts on the environment.