Combined gardening and mindfulness predict physical and mental quality of life in senior adults

Previous research suggests that both gardening and mindfulness interventions improve quality of life (QOL).The aim of this study was to explore whether the combination of gardening and mindfulness is associated with higher QOL relative to gardening or mindfulness alone. Men and women from the Well Elderly Study (N = 1600) were divided into four groups: (1) Gardening, those who reported gardening and not mindfulness; (2) Mindfulness, those who reported mindfulness (“I had trouble keeping my mind on what I was doing some/a little of the time” or “rarely/none of the time”) and not gardening; (3) Combined, those who reported both gardening and mindfulness; and (4) Neither, those who reported neither gardening nor mindfulness. Physical and Mental QOL Component scores (SF36) were compared amongst the four groups. The Combined group (M=43.08, SD=9.42) reported higher physical QOL values than either the Neither (mean difference=5.95, SE=1.27, p<.001) or Mindfulness (mean difference=2.14, SE=.56, p=.001) groups. The Combined (M=49.65, SD=9.57) and Mindfulness (M=48.08, SD=11.16) groups reported higher mental QOL values than the Neither (mean difference from Combined=11.40, SE=1.35, p<.001, mean difference from Mindfulness=9.83, SE=1.30, p<.001) and Gardening (mean difference from Combined=9.01, SE=2.22, p<.001, mean difference from Mindfulness=7.45, SE=2.19, p=.004) groups. The Combined group also reported significantly higher subscale scores in General Health, Social Functioning, Vitality and Emotional Role compared to all other groups (all p-values <.05). These findings suggest a combined gardening/mindfulness intervention could improve both physical and mental QOL in senior adults.