Effects of an Agro-Healing Program on Physical and Emotional Rehabilitation in Older Adults with Post-Stroke Hemiplegia
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Background and objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of adapting the Rehabilitative Agro-healing Manual for Alleviating Post-stroke Hemiplegic Sequelae (2024), developed by the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science (NIHHS) under the Rural Development Administration, into a customized program tailored to a nursing home setting and implementing the adapted program. Methods: Participants were selected to match the target population for the original agro-healing program developed by NIHHS, and the program’s main activities and therapeutic intervention techniques were incorporated into the adapted intervention. The participants were 16 older adults with post-stroke hemiplegia residing in D Nursing Home located in D City. All participants voluntarily agreed to participate after receiving a full explanation of the study’s purpose and procedures and provided written informed consent (JJNU-IRB-2025-050-001). The mean age of the participants was 83 years, comprising 12 females and 4 males. All of them were wheelchair users. The program consisted of 16 weekly sessions held every Thursday from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., from June 26 to October 16, 2025.Results: Pre- and post-intervention differences were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test in IBM SPSS Statistics version 29.0. Muscle quality, assessed in the biceps and triceps on both the affected and unaffected sides, decreased; however, the changes were not statistically significant. Grip strength on the affected side significantly increased from 6.31 ± 5.70 kg to 9.63 ± 7.92 kg (p = .027), whereas no significant change was observed on the unaffected side. The stress index measured using U-BIO MACPA significantly decreased from 59.56 ± 20.02 to 49.69 ± 18.95 (p = .048). Scores on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale significantly increased from 29.38 ± 4.08 to 32.56 ± 4.68 (p = .017, Cronbach’s α = .753). WHODAS 2.0 scores significantly decreased from 40.50 ± 11.68 to 32.81 ± 10.93 (p = .016, Cronbach’s α = .942). Conclusion: These findings objectively demonstrate that agricultural resources can serve as an integrated therapeutic intervention tool that supports both physical and emotional rehabilitation.
Institution: Daegu Catholic University
Language: English
Subfield: Rehabilitation
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7225909262
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