Effectiveness of Organic horticulture training for young people with mental disorders

The social and therapeutic horticultural programmes within health facilities, social services or vocational training, aim to contribute to the clients or trainees wellbeing and improvement of their physical, mental and emotional conditions. Integrated in the wider concept of social agriculture, these programmes are developing rapidly all over the world, as in Portugal. In this context the present study aimed to provide an insight on the benefits of organic horticulture professional training within young people with mental disorders. The Training Course in Organic Farming and Gardening (TCOFG) started in 1991, in the Professional Training Centre of the Association of Parents and Friends of Children with Disabilities, in Barcelos, Portugal. The target trainees were young people, over 16 years old, with intellectual disabilities, or with a disability characterized by significant limitations in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behaviour. During a period of three months three questionnaires were performed to the trainees attending the course and the trainees’ families were interviewed in order to assess their sons’ progress at home and the main effects of the TCOFG on them. The results indicate that horticulture, when used in a group-based setting, has a direct and positive effect on life satisfaction, wellbeing and self-confidence, which are all components of quality of life.