This paper discusses how green spaces and forests can benefit city dwellers’ mental health, highlighting Singapore’s therapeutic garden and rainforest projects as examples of mental health experts working with urban planners to build calmer, greener cities.
Surveying almost 9,000 people who took part in a ‘Gardening with Edibles’ programme during Singapore’s COVID-19 restrictions, this study found that those who gardened weekly felt more mentally resilient than others, supporting gardening as a way to cope with stressful times.
This follow-up analysis of a gardening trial found that feeling more socially connected after three months helped explain why the gardening programme reduced inflammation in the body by six months, pointing to social connection as one reason gardening benefits health.
This trial found that a gardening programme reduced signs of immune system ageing and chronic low-level inflammation in older Singaporean adults, giving biological evidence that gardening can help counter age-related decline in the immune system.
This study found that a gardening programme in tropical Singapore improved sleep, mood, anxiety levels, and thinking skills in older adults, showing that nature-based activities can benefit health even in a hot, humid climate.
Nature-based activities improve the well-being of older adults Read More »
This study is part of the same research programme that tested how a therapeutic gardening programme affects the mental wellbeing of elderly people in Singapore, contributing early evidence for gardening’s psychological benefits.
This trial found that a gardening programme lowered a marker of inflammation in the body and helped protect a factor important for healthy blood cell production in older Singaporean adults, supporting gardening as a way to promote healthy ageing.
Effects of horticultural therapy on Asian older adults: A randomised controlled trial Read More »
This study protocol describes a trial testing whether gardening activities can improve the mental health, thinking skills, and physical health of older adults in Singapore.
