Horticultural Activities Among the People with Dementia and Their Family Caregivers

The indoor technology-enhanced horticultural activities will be delivered to people with dementia and their family caregivers through a smart grower. The smart grower is a hydroponic indoor grower that creates a controllable environment with auto optimization for growing healthy plants, fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruits. A mobile app will be connected to the grower for controlling the growing environment (e.g., lighting, watering), tracking the progress of the plants, and guiding the older people with dementia and their family caregivers in conducting the horticultural activities. The program will consist of eight face-to-face (F-T-F) horticultural activity training sessions for groups of 6-8 participants. The indoor program contains various horticultural, cognitive, and multisensory stimulation activities, such as asking PWD and family caregivers to record the sense of touch and odor when caring for the plants and to observe the various changes in the plants using the smart grower.