The Psychological Changes of Horticultural Therapy Intervention for Elderly Women of Earthquake-Related Areas

The Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011 was the earthquake and tsunami of the largest in the earthquake that occurred in Japan. Despite the passage of time, some people living of the Pacific coast of Tohoku have complained about the mental and physical condition such as insomnia and anxiety. This means that some people who experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake are still living with the emotional trauma and stress. Previous studies report that prevalence of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) ranging from approximately 5 percent to 60 percent is seen in the first 1-2 years after a disaster [1,2]. It suggest that mental health problems of survivors are most evident a certain amount of time after a disasters [3]. Additionally, previous studies reported about mental health problems of survivors after a disaster such as a temporary increase in cortisol level [4-7]. The recovery is progressing little by little in the disaster area of Tohoku and it may be said that it is important to mediumto longterm psychological care for the people who live in the disaster area. In this study, as a method of mediumto long-term psychological care for them, we focused on the horticultural therapy.