The Psychophysiological Relaxation Effects of Essential Oil Combined with Still-Life Painting Activities on Older Adults in Taiwan During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Autor: Chung YH; Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan., Chen SJ; College of Nursing and Health, Kang Ning University, Taipei, Taiwan., Lee CL; Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan., Chang YS; Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan. yschang@ntu.edu.tw.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback [Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback] 2024 Nov 06. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Nov 06.
DOI: 10.1007/s10484-024-09676-9
Abstrakt: Although the COVID-19 pandemic affected all types of people, older adults were disproportionately affected. Therefore, we developed an indoor program inspired by art and natural elements (plant essential oils [EOs]) intended to have a relaxing effect akin to a forest atmosphere to enhance psychophysiological health during this period. Thirty Taiwanese older adults (range, 59-79 years) participated in the study. We combined an art activity (still-life painting of vegetables) with the inhalation of Pseudotsuga menziesii and Lavandula angustifolia EOs during a 100-minute experiment. The study showed that physiological measures (heart rate, normalized low-frequency heart variability, the ratio of low- to high-frequency heart variability, high-beta waves, and gamma waves) decreased during the experiment; correspondingly, increased standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals, normalized high-frequency heart variability, and high-alpha waves were observed, indicating relaxed physiological state. Subjective psychological assessments using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State showed lower posttest scores, further supporting the relaxation effects. The psychophysiological data from this study provide important scientific evidence for the physical and mental health benefits of indoor nature-based activity programs for older adults, thereby improving their quality of life.
(© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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