Older people gardening and the benefits

Guo, Yanai, and Xu set our to evaluate “the associations between garden factors (i.e., garden visit frequency and perceived garden quality) and older adults’ [mean age 79] psychological well-being outcomes (i.e., positive well-being and self-rated health) and to investigate the mediating role of neighborhood social environment factors (i.e., outing frequency, social participation, perceived neighborhood social cohesion, and perceived neighborhood attachment) in these associations. . . .  both garden factors were positively associated with positive well-being and self-rated health. . . . higher garden visit frequency and perceived garden quality were associated with higher outing frequency and perceived neighborhood social cohesion and, in turn, with higher positive well-being. Moreover, higher garden visit frequency and perceived garden quality were associated with greater social participation and thereby with better self-rated health; higher perceived garden quality was also associated with higher perceived neighborhood attachment and thus with better self-rated health.”

Jiao Guo, Shigeto Yanai, and Guolin Xu.  “Community Gardens and Psychological Well-Being Among Older People in Elderly Housing with Care Services:  The Role of the Social Environment.”  Journal of Environmental Psychology, in press, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102232