Impact of the Olfactory Stimulation on the People With Mild Dementia Via the Horticultural Therapy

The group used 24 board games popular among the elderly population in Taiwan, including Noah's Ark, Splash Attack, Pengoloo, Speedy, and Zingo. Because some games were too complicated for the participants to play, some game rules were modified into more simple and directive thinking.

The group used 15 flavors of essential oil (i.e., lavender, rosemary, sweet orange, lemongrass, mint, and hinoki) and essence (i.e., lemon, coffee, peach, magnolia, chocolate, jasmine, strawberry, pomelo, and passion fruit), purposefully selecting two to three flavors for each session. Because some flavors are familiar to the participants and some are not, the familiar flavors were initially used to trigger memory. The unfamiliar flavors (i.e., lavender, rosemary, sweet orange, and lemon) were used in later sessions because those were recognized as having potential effects on cognitive function