Study proves that gardening can help cancer survivors feel greater 'worth'
| Updated: Jan 22, 2018, 13:30 IST
While most of us take up gardening as a hobby, a recent study suggests that it actually results in several behavioural and health changes too. And just for anybody but especially for those brave souls who have survived cancer. "For cancer survivors, especially those who are older, we look for lifestyle changes that can help them get healthier but are also holistic and have meaning," said lead author Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, chair of nutrition sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Comprehensive Cancer Center. "We can send people to the gym, but that isn't meaningful, and we can counsel them to eat better, but we want it to be more rewarding, and we want it to be long-term," Dr Demark-Wahnefried told a leading news agency." "With gardening, we've hit the ball out of the ballpark," the author added.
For the participants in the gardening group, the master gardeners brought raised growing beds as well as plants, seeds and other gardening supplies to each person's home and helped them establish three seasonal vegetable gardens over the course of the experiment. Before and after the year-long study period, researchers assessed the participants' diets, performed strength and balance tests, as well as blood tests for markers of stress and overall health. They also administered a series of questions to gauge stress levels, quality of life and mental state. It was seen that gardeners had also gained, on average, just 2.3cm around their waists, versus nearly 8cm in the waitlist group. Blood results showed some lower markers of stress in the gardening group, and gardeners reported an increased feeling of "worth".
"With more people with cancer surviving and living longer, we need these programmes," Dr Demark-Wahnefried said. "In this and previous studies, we've seen people are not only getting their physical functioning back, but it has an impact on quality of life."
For the participants in the gardening group, the master gardeners brought raised growing beds as well as plants, seeds and other gardening supplies to each person's home and helped them establish three seasonal vegetable gardens over the course of the experiment. Before and after the year-long study period, researchers assessed the participants' diets, performed strength and balance tests, as well as blood tests for markers of stress and overall health. They also administered a series of questions to gauge stress levels, quality of life and mental state. It was seen that gardeners had also gained, on average, just 2.3cm around their waists, versus nearly 8cm in the waitlist group. Blood results showed some lower markers of stress in the gardening group, and gardeners reported an increased feeling of "worth".
"With more people with cancer surviving and living longer, we need these programmes," Dr Demark-Wahnefried said. "In this and previous studies, we've seen people are not only getting their physical functioning back, but it has an impact on quality of life."