TITLE:
Influences of Horticultural Therapy and Functional Recovery Training at a Day-Care Center for the Elderly and Text Mining of Care Records by AI
AUTHORS:
Seigo Koura, Shinya Matsutani, Kazuho Nagao, Yu Fukushima, Akiko Ikeda, Takeshi Oshikawa, Tomohiro Inagaki, Kentaro Higashi
KEYWORDS:
Horticultural Therapy, Hand Care Treatment, Senior Day-Care Center, Functional Recovery Training, KH-Corder
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation,
Vol.12 No.2,
April
11,
2024
ABSTRACT: Background: In Japan, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, various behavioral restrictions
were implemented from March 2020, resulting in an increased number of elderly
people with reduced participation in care and rehabilitation. As a result, the
decline in motor and cognitive functions became more pronounced. Purpose: The
study examined how activities combining passive horticultural therapy, which is
always introduced, with active functional recovery training, which is used in
the functional recovery training of patients with hemiplegia, influence the
behavior of elder people using the facility. Methods: 36 elder people with care need 1 or 2 who regularly used the day-care facilities after the pandemic ended and who agreed to participate in the study
was included. The assessment data were every three months from December 2021 to
December 2023 after the COVID-19 pandemic, the MMSE and Moca-J, TMIG-Index, and GDS15. AI-based text mining was
used to compare changes in visit reports before and after the
introduction of the Posture Chart and Red Code, and the relationship between
the language used. Results: The results of MMSE
and Moca-J were both significantly higher in Group B and C than in Group A.
TIMG assessment, was significantly higher in Group B and C than in Group A, and
Group C was significantly higher than Group B. The GDS, an assessment of
depression in old age, tended to be significantly higher in Group A than in
Groups B and C. In the “Co-Occurrence Network Analysis” shown after the introduction of
the latest functional recovery training equipment such as the Red Cord, its
results showed a high association between
the words Bathing and CARE and words such as POSTURE, Red-Code, and AI,
App, which are used in functional training and rehabilitation, and their
analysis. Conclusion: At day-care facilities
specializing in functional recovery training and rehabilitation, a combination
of horticultural therapy and the latest functional training equipment found to
help maintain the physical and mental health of elderly people certified as
requiring nursing care. Since this is a short-term study following behavioral
restrictions, long-term research should continue to study the effects of adding
functional training, handled by rehabilitation professionals, to horticultural
therapy.