**3. Results**

The observation results indicated that classes two and three involved longer durations of activities conducted in a sitting posture. Compared with a standing posture, engaging the elderly during the classes in a sitting posture led to more satisfactory evaluations from the teacher in the postclass interviews. Both the teacher and social workers expressed that adopting a sitting posture effectively prevented the elderly from developing exhaustion or muscle pain, whereas

and plants based on observation. This study also focuses on the design proposals of how users

New Flower Bed Design and Verification Supporting Horticultural Therapy Classes Based…

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.78311

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Moreover, staring into space and resting behavior are the highest in class two. When instructors are unavailable to attend to an elder, this elder ends up staring into space because he/she is confused about next steps. Observations in class two also reveal that instructors, volunteers, and social workers on average spend the most time assisting elders. The purpose of these horticulture classes is for elders to achieve therapeutic effect through finishing class experiments on their own. Over-guidance from instructors or volunteers could decrease the opportunity for elders to work on their own. One of the 13 elders in class two had less attendance. Finally, the flower platform from class two with nine elders in the wheelchair, compared to the fixed flower beds at the center of the plaza, is associated with higher mobility which can easily accompany with other classes. Therefore, we should consider the different physical condition of elders and

use the mobile floral platform as a base, as a template for future gardening design.

Three most common problems occurred in gardening work among the elders during the first

**1.** Bad posture: inadequate tools encourage poor posture in elders, which offsets the therapeutic benefits of the classes. The tools they used affected many postures in classes.

**2.** Lack of interaction of classes: horticulture classes stimulate interactions between the elderly and also reduce the aging of body function. Staring-into-space and resting behaviors take up a large percentage of class interaction based on our observations. Sharing and helping

**3.** Uneven care among elders: many staff, other than the instructor, need to focus on the situation of all elders also, which increases the burden on them. Therefore, most of these horticultural classes arrange volunteers to help. However, an oversupply of volunteers will cause uneven care among the elders, and reduce their independence to work in gardening activities. A goal of flower bed design should be taken into account the volunteer-to-elder

Horticultural therapy courses were conducted in groups. Most flower beds available on the market could be used by multiple users. However, this study aimed to develop a flower bed featuring sufficient personal space and the ability to support multiple users, thereby enhancing a sense of exclusiveness in the users. From the starting point of user space, modularized separable designs were developed to meet the aforementioned requirements (**Figure 7**).

Eventually, a hexagonal design was adopted. A set of flower beds comprising six pieces was created and modularized. The advantage of hexagon-based modularization was that the comprising pieces could be assembled into various shapes in response to varying class requirements. During the design process, the researchers considered the possibility of future production and designed the flower beds to be self-assembly pieces for the convenience of those purchasing and using the products. Hence, all components were made from planks and

interactions among elders should be a critical design criterion for a flower bed.

place gardening tools, to give an effect of horticulture activities.

**3.1. Horticultural flower bed design concerns and conditions**

observation:

ratio and save manpower.

**3.2. Concept drafts**

**Figure 5.** Behavior of tool use.

adopting a standing posture could result in these symptoms. In addition, **Figure 5** reveals considerable difference between the dominant and nondominant hand in the rate of tool use, indicating that the elderly did not use their two hands in turn for equal lengths of time. Even when engaged in bare hand operations, the elderly spent significantly longer on average operating with their dominant hand than with their nondominant hand or both hands.

There are more elders staring into space and resting behavior in class two. Even though class two has a longer duration, there is no increase in time between the interaction of plants and elders. Furthermore, elders in class two have at the highest, a 39.47% increase in time duration to observe others (**Figure 6**). The observation reveals that the unequal attention from instructors causes the unattended elders to look around at other elders in boredom.

The instructor in three horticulture classes pointed out that sedentary positions are more suitable for elders in gardening activities that prevent fatigue from stooping or repetitive movements. Only class two has three gardening platforms, providing more assistance during gardening. The operating platforms make it easier for elders to reach, which makes it a more suitable platform for elders to use. On the contrary, there is a high discrepancy between dominant and nondominant hand users in gardening work in class two. Moreover, observations of the three classes reveal that elders who use tools use their dominant hand 32.62% of the time more than their nondominant hand. Elders who use their bare hands use their dominant hand 17.31% of the time more than their nondominant hand. It is one point where the platform design can improve. We also know that elders more frequently use tools than bare hands to work with soil

**Figure 6.** Intensity of elder interaction in horticulture class.

and plants based on observation. This study also focuses on the design proposals of how users place gardening tools, to give an effect of horticulture activities.

Moreover, staring into space and resting behavior are the highest in class two. When instructors are unavailable to attend to an elder, this elder ends up staring into space because he/she is confused about next steps. Observations in class two also reveal that instructors, volunteers, and social workers on average spend the most time assisting elders. The purpose of these horticulture classes is for elders to achieve therapeutic effect through finishing class experiments on their own. Over-guidance from instructors or volunteers could decrease the opportunity for elders to work on their own. One of the 13 elders in class two had less attendance. Finally, the flower platform from class two with nine elders in the wheelchair, compared to the fixed flower beds at the center of the plaza, is associated with higher mobility which can easily accompany with other classes. Therefore, we should consider the different physical condition of elders and use the mobile floral platform as a base, as a template for future gardening design.
