In Korea which is one of the most rapidly aging societies in the world, the problem of the elderly is surfacing as a serious social issue. An integrated and polysynthetic solution to actively address this issue is to leverage social horticulture, as ...
In Korea which is one of the most rapidly aging societies in the world, the problem of the elderly is surfacing as a serious social issue. An integrated and polysynthetic solution to actively address this issue is to leverage social horticulture, as horticultural activities provide physical, emotional, social, and economical help to the elderly. Therefore, this research examined ways to use welfare-horticulture to improve the quality of life of the elderly people.
In order to meet the research objective, the definition and characteristics of the elderly, successful ageing and the improvement of quality of life, the current status and issues of the elderly in Korea and horticultural activities for the elderly were explored.
Also, thesis published domestically in Korea over the past 10 years and 65 academic journal papers were analyzed. In addition, laws related to horticultural activities of the elderly people in Korea were reviewed.
Furthermore, a nationwide survey on 644 elderlies, male and female, was conducted to find out about the status of horticultural activities of the elderly, their intention of participating in such activities, anticipated impact, and policy needs. Also, a survey on 320 experts regarding horticultural activities was conducted to examine the attitude of the elderly regarding horticultural activities, anticipated impact, difficulties, and correlation with welfare for the elderly.
According to the research, 70% of the elderly in Korea are currently engaged in carrying out horticultural activities. However, the activities are limited to only once or twice a week over a short period of time. Also, the degree to which the elderly participate has a statistically meaningful impact on the enhancement of quality of life.
The most common places where horticulture activities were carried out were indoors or in verandas followed by gardens or rooftops, which means that the elderly people prefer a not-so-distant place from their homes.
Regarding for the reason for not participating in horticultural activities, elderly people chose, 'there is no place to grow plants' is the highest reason, and 'not healthy enough' as second highest. However, more than 60% of the elderly people who are not participating in horticultural activities answered that they would participate if the circumstances allow. This result indicates their strong intention of wanting to participate in horticultural activities.
The most reason for the elderly people wanting to participate in horticultural activities was 'fun of growing plants and leisure' and the next common reasons were 'for physical health' and 'for mental comfort'. The highest difficulty for the elderly to be involved in horticultural activities is the lack of space to grow plants (39.1%), and the second highest difficulty was their lack of knowledge of plants.
Most of the elderly people (80.4%) felt it necessary for the government or local administrative offices to promote horticultural activities for the elderly, and they expressed the desire for space and budget support for horticultural activities.
Horticultural activity experts perceived the elderly as having strong interest in horticultural activities, and considered the activities with them as worthwhile. Also, they believed that horticultural activities of the elderly can contribute greatly to enhancing the quality of life and welfare of the elderly people. On the other hand, they pointed to the need of government budget support for material cost.
In conclusion, welfare-horticulture could be used to enhance quality of life for the elderlies. This is an active and preventived approach that addresses the problems of aging society. The examination of this research on the status of horticultural activities of the elderlies carries significance as it can be used as a basis for establishing horticultural policies for the elderly people.