Advancing a contemporary horticultural therapy practice model

As qualified practitioners in the profession of horticultural therapy, trained horticultural therapists offer unique and diverse plant-based therapeutic experiences for clients in a variety of delivery settings.
Horticultural therapy utilizes people-plant interactions to provide evidence-based interventions that create positive outcomes.
Their community of clients represents diverse backgrounds of experiences, abilities, and needs.
Sustainable growth of membership and practitioners within the horticultural therapy profession has been challenging, as practitioners consider the differences between the clinical perspective versus the well-being perspective of horticultural therapy, program development, settings for program implementation, and methods of evaluation.
This presentation will review findings published by researchers and horticultural therapy professionals in the United States (US). It will benchmark contemporary perspectives and positions identified in the literature and build from this framework to propose a new horticultural therapy practice model.
The long-term goal of this model is to position the profession to provide strong connections with clients and allied health professions in the US. It will also enable unique delivery settings and facilitate therapeutic outcomes.
Near-term results provide the starting point for contemporary discussions about ways to move the profession forward.

XV International People Plant Symposium and II International Symposium on Horticultural Therapies: the Role of Horticulture in Human Well-being and Social Development

D.R. Stowell, J.M. Fly, W.E. Klingeman, D.L. Airhart, A.J. Wozencroft, C.A. Beyl, P.J. Snodgrass

clinical, professional qualifications, horticultural therapy, credentialing, membership, therapeutic horticulture, volunteer, health care intervention, wellness, assessment, documentation, training

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2021.1330.25