Effect of flower arrangement on mental health of elderly people using elderly day care: Using the Japanese version of the World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index

Abstract

Objective: To clarify the effect of flower arrangement on the mental health of the elderly using elderly day care.

Methods: Elderly day care users were divided into 18 in the intervention group and 15 in the control group. The intervention group was given 20 minutes flower arrangement lessons four times in two months, and the control group continued normal elderly day care. Questionnaires including the WHO-5 Well-Being Index（WHO-5-J）were conducted one week before the first lesson and one week after the end of the two-month intervention. We also compared the WHO-5-J scores before and after the third lesson. A paired t-test was used to compare WHO-5-J scores before and after the intervention.

Results: The WHO-5-J score in the intervention group increased significantly from 16.9 to 19.8, while the change in the control group ranged from 15.3 to 16.0, which was not significant. There was no significant change in the WHO-5-J score before and after the 3rd lesson.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated that flower arrangements performed four times in two months improved the mental health of the elderly using elderly day care. Flower arrangements have the potential to be applied as a new long-term care prevention program.