A Study On Social Work Alleviating Loneliness Of The Elderly In Welfare Homes Under Horticultural Therapy ——Taking The First Social Welfare Home In City C As An Example

With the acceleration of China’s population aging process,the pension demand is rapidly increasing.In the meantime,the number of nuclear family is increasing and weakening the traditional family pension function.So the pressure of social pension increased.To this end,we have established a social elderly care service system based on home,supported by communities and supported by institutions.As a special way of institutional pension,most of the elderly are social vulnerable groups.Their material life can be basically guaranteed,but the level of mental health should arouse our attention Comparing with the elderly in traditional family care,the elderly in welfare homes are divorced from family and social relations,can not get caring from others and more susceptible to negative emotions,so they are more likely to feel lonely.If people are lonely for a long time,it is easy to cause mental health problems.In the meantime,their physical function will be affected such as memory loss,decreased immunity,loss of appetite.Loneliness has become one of the important factors affecting the mental and physical health of the elderly.In the course of the study,through participatory observation,unstructured interview and UCLA Loneliness Scale,this paper investigates the loneliness status of the elderly in the first social welfare home in C City.The results show that the elderly in welfare homes generally experience loneliness.To this end,the researcher found that horticultural therapy has a good effect in relieving the loneliness of the elderly through literature.So the researcher designed eight horticultural group activities based on social support theory and elderly activity theory.They also invited elderly who have a strong sense of loneliness,good health situation and certain cognitive abilities to participate in group activities.During the activity,the team members participated in the maintenance of green plants and the creation of handicrafts.On the one hand,these activities allow the group members to experience the healing effect of green plants and the joy of handcraft creation.On the other hand,the realization of conservation objectives and the completion of handicrafts have greatly improved the self-confidence of team members and have deepened the communication between team members.At the end of the group,the post-test results of the UCLA Loneliness Scale showed that the scores of the group members decreased in different degrees.The loneliness experience of team members has been significantly alleviated and the purpose of the group is basically achieved.The results show that,combining horticultural therapy with group work can ease the experience of loneliness among elderly people in welfare homes.At the level of physical function,gardening operations like soil turning,pruning,and picking actions can improve their finger flexibility and stimulate their senses.At the level of mental health,participating in group activities can improve self-confidence of eldly and change their negative perceptions about themselves.In the meantime,the prejudice among team members can be improved,which lays the foundation for the improvement of the relationship between team members.At the level of social interaction,the horticultural therapy group provides a social platform for members,which can create common topics for the team members so their relationship can be improved.Through positive changes in physical,psychological and social aspect,the loneliness experience of the elderly in the welfare home has been alleviated to a certain extent.