The Effects of the Floral Arrangement in a Designated Space on the Visual Perception Motor Coordination Ability and Hand Function of the Elderly with Dementia

The purpose of this study is to look into the influence of the floral arrangement in a designated space on the visual perception motor coordination ability and hand function of the elderly with dementia. To this end, this study conducted a program consisting of 20 sessions (twice a week) in total targeting 25 senior citizens with dementia who were using a welfare center. The sessions consisted of the following activities in order – creating sections by drawing lines on the floral foam blocks, labeling each section with numbers, placing colored straws in sections, inserting different colored flowers for every session based on the Munsell 10-hue circle in a designated space (the hole at the top of straw) by instruction. It was found that in the pre, mid, and posttest change within a group, the control group did not show any significance, while in the pre, mid, and posttest change of the experimental group, visual perception motor coordination ability showed a significant difference (28.5 pieces in the pretest, 31.5 pieces in the midtest, and 32.5 pieces in the posttest) as the program was advanced (p=.006). However, manual ability of the right hand did not show a significant difference with 12.0lb-12.5lb-12.5lb in the pre, mid, and posttest, respectively (p=.606), and also no significant difference for the left hand with 11.3lb-11.8lb-11.3lb in the pre, mid, and posttest, respectively (p=.338). As a result of doing a multiple comparison by response of the visual perception coordination motor ability, which showed significant difference as sessions progressed, the difference value between the pre and posttest showed a significant change (p=.012). Floral arrangement in designated spaces is effective for improving visual perception motor coordination ability for the elderly with dementia.