The impact of care farms on quality of life, depression and anxiety among different population groups: A systematic review

Abstract

Care farming (also called social farming) is the therapeutic use of agricultural and farming practices. Service users and communities supported through care farming include people with learning disabilities, mental and physical health problems, substance misuse, adult offenders, disaffected youth, socially isolated older people and the long term unemployed. Care farming is growing in popularity, especially around Europe. This review aimed to understand the impact of care farming on quality of life, depression and anxiety, on a range of service user groups. It also aimed to explore and explain the way in which care farming might work for different groups. By reviewing interview studies we found that people valued, among other things, being in contact with each other, and feeling a sense of achievement, fulfilment and belonging. Some groups seemed to appreciate different things indicating that different groups may benefit in different ways but, it is unclear if this is due to a difference in the types of activities or the way in which people take different things from the same activity. We found no evidence that care farms improved people's quality of life and some evidence that they might improve depression and anxiety. Larger studies involving single service user groups and fully validated outcome measures are needed to prove more conclusive evidence about the benefits of care farming.

The Care Farming Sector in The Netherlands: A Reflection on Its Developments and Promising Innovations

“…People appreciate the social atmosphere, the diverse activities, being outside and coming into contact with animals and with nature. People from different backgrounds value the support and the sense of achievement, fulfilment and belonging that care farms provide [11]. The legitimacy of care farming has increased, resulting in new entrants, mainly with a background in healthcare, which in turn made care farms more embedded in the healthcare sector.…”

“…Care farms engage in a variety of different activities, including horticulture, livestock farming, green maintenance or forestry, but they also carry out other types of recreational or social activities, including painting or running a tea garden or restaurant [11]. Participants, care farmers and healthcare and social care professionals appreciate care farms for the combination of the personal attitude and commitment of the farmer, the fact that participants belong to the farming community, the informal context, the useful and diverse activities, the contact with animals and the green environment [11,12], while participants experience a sense of achievement and satisfaction, belonging, acceptance and meaningfulness. They feel valued, respected, stimulated and safe, and develop skills and social relationships.…”

“…They feel valued, respected, stimulated and safe, and develop skills and social relationships. The perceived benefits of these mechanisms improve their physical, mental and social well-being [11].…”

The Return on Investment in Social Farming: A Strategy for Sustainable Rural Development in Rural Catalonia

“…The concept of GC covers a wide range of activities that have in common their use of natural elements to promote and sustain well-being and physical, mental, and social education [4,40,41]. When the predominant form is agricultural work, or the use of farmland combined with promoting physical and mental health among the participants, it is called Green Care in Agriculture (GCA).…”

“…To give a simple definition, SF [3] is an activity promoted by public or private institutions aiming to improve the chances of employability for groups at risk of social exclusion (RSE) by means of agricultural work and transformation of agricultural products, or in activities related to nature. There are five basic elements that should be kept in mind: (1) groups at RSE, who are the main beneficiaries of the projects; (2) the institutional promotors or staff of the projects; (3) the technical team carrying out the project; (4) the agricultural activity, which is also an aim of the project; and (5) the therapy and healthcare offered to people at RSE [4]. SF entities located in rural areas help to achieve sustainable development, including the maintenance and improvement of personal and social services [5].…”