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In
a six-month behavioral study in partnership with Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey, SAF explored what effect flowers have on senior
citizens and the everyday challenges they face, including depression,
isolation and memory loss.
The 2001 SAF-sponsored research reveals the following:
§
Flowers decrease depression.
Study participants showed a significant increase in happiness and positive
moods when flowers were present.
§
Flowers refresh recent memory.
Seniors performed higher on everyday memory tasks and experienced enriched
personal memories in the presence of flowers.
§
Flowers Encourage Companionship.
Seniors who received flowers re-engaged with members of their communities
and enlarged their social contacts to include more neighbors, religious
support and even medical personnel.
"Instinct tells us that flowers lift our
spirits, but, their effects on seniors are especially profound, if not
surprising," said Haviland-Jones.
BACKGROUND
The Flowers & Seniors Study examined senior citizens' levels of depression,
social contact and memory with and without the presence of flowers.
Participants were placed in one of four groups, each receiving flowers at
different intervals. A series of three interviews was conducted throughout
the six-month study, to measure changes in participants' moods and
behaviors. Participants also kept personal daily logs to record social
contacts and were given a memory test at the conclusion of the study.
Study Participants
The study consisted of 104 participants (94 women, 10 men), ranging in
ethnicity, from ages 55-93. To prevent skewed or biased results,
participants did not know the purpose of the study.
Interviews
§
Participants were given an initial baseline interview to obtain data on
moods, health, social support, life satisfaction and demographic
information.
§
A
second and third interview followed to measure changes in feelings and
behaviors.
§
After the third interview, seniors were tested on everyday personal
memories, including their memories of the flowers, of daily social contacts
(based on the logs they kept, see below), and on recent social events (also
taken from daily logs). Points were given based on the accuracy, specificity
and detail of the seniors' answers.
Flower Deliveries
Participants were randomly placed into four groups. Each group received
flowers at different intervals in the study, which they were told were
thank-yous for participating. Results were based on how often the
participants in each group received flowers (if at all), at what point in
the study they received flowers, and any changes in mood and behavior that
ensued. The groups included:
§
The Early group: Received a bouquet once - after the first (baseline)
interview only. This group had the flowers in time for the second interview.
§
The Late group: Received flowers once - before the last interview only. This
group had the flowers in time for the third interview.
§
The All Flowers group: Received flowers twice - before both the second and
third interviews.
§
The No Flowers group: Received flowers only after the study was completed.
They had no flowers during any of the interviews.
Evaluation
Rutgers researchers tested participants for changes in their depression,
social contact and memory. Noting which flower group they were in, the
researchers used the following methods for measurement:
§
One-on-one interviews - Seniors were asked questions (see list of
questionnaires below) about moods and behaviors three times during the
study.
§
Daily logs - Participants kept journals of daily contacts with friends,
family and other supporters such as medical people, neighbors, household
helpers and religious support.
§
Memory tests - Seniors were tested on everyday personal memories, which were
coded according to the degree of detail each participant gave about the item
or event they were asked to describe.
Questionnaires
The following questionnaires were asked of participants: Izard's
Differential Emotional Scale, Diener's Life Satisfaction Scale. The standard
social support measure, social contact logs and memory tests also were
evaluated.
Learn More
A
complete analysis of the Flowers & Seniors Study is available for purchase.
Visit the SAF Market or contact SAF Member Services at (800) 336–4743. |
