ISHS Acta Horticulturae 1330: XV International People Plant Symposium and II International Symposium on Horticultural Therapies: the Role of Horticulture in Human Well-being and Social Development
Studies regarding the influence of therapeutic horticulture on the human-nature relationship and the increase of well-being |
| Authors: | T. Buru, É. Kállay, L.E. Olar, R. Ştefan, M. Cantor, I. Papuc, E. Buta |
| Keywords: | therapeutic horticulture, depression, spectrophotometric analysis |
| DOI: | 10.17660/ActaHortic.2021.1330.10 |
| Abstract:
Often, throughout the history of landscape architecture it was found that people intuitively walked through green spaces at any time of the year, regardless of their health or financial situation. Therefore, people's sense of belonging to nature is validated by several theories, including biophilia and attention restoration theory. Horticulture is defined as the agronomic science that studies garden cultivation, as well as the aesthetic aspect of landscape architecture. On the other hand, therapeutic horticulture includes landscape-mediated interventions, using plant elements and gardening, emphasizing the practical part of this domain in order to carry out active and passive recreational activities. In the 21st century urbanization has spread rapidly throughout the globe, and today, worldwide, more than 50% and over 70% of the Europeans are living in urban environments, while 38% of them are struggling with various forms of mental illness. Depression can be assessed in two ways: subjective (with the use of psychological inventories) and objective (by assessing the levels of biomarkers contribution obtained from biological samples, which are independent of the person's subjective perception). The aim of this study is to analyse the tryptophan metabolites obtained by the contribution of searched fluorophores to the total fluorescence of urine samples (KYN and KYNA) which can be an objective research method, in order to assess the role of nature exposure. Results show that people can reduce levels of depression, improving physical and mental well-being, quality of social life through therapeutic horticulture sessions. | |
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