Understanding the value and limits of nature-based solutions

Abstract
Nature-based methods and activities has increasingly shown to be effectiveness in
reducing one's stress level as well as improving the overall mental well-being. For instance, a
study found that recovery from stress, anxiety, and depression are achievable and far more
comprehensive as a nature-based resolution to improve mental health of individuals who
were participating in horticulture therapy. Physical activities, healthy diet, social support as
nature based methods like gardening and plantation activities in the garden has been found to
be effective to uphold mental health among Malaysians. Many reports states that emotional,
cognitive, and sensory-motor development and greater social involvement as well as health,
well-being, and satisfaction in life of housewives can be mediated through horticultural
therapy. The aim of the study is to understand the effect of gardening on the physical and
mental well-being of housewives. Depressed mothers of the children demonstrated emotional
and behavioral disruption and lag in significant development of language.

In-depth exploration into gardening experiences of housewives
World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as “a state of well-being in
which the individual realizes his or her abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can
work productively and fruitfully, and is can contribute to his or her community.” Mental
health issues seem to be one of the top problems faced by Malaysians as it has shown a
prevalence rate of 29.2 percent in which one of every three Malaysian faces mental health
problems, according to the National Health and Morbidity Survey (2015). This makes mental
illness to be the second-largest anticipated health issue following coronary heart disease by
2020. Based on statistics, 4.2 million people in Malaysia currently have a mental illness,
which can be costly to the national health budget, which has increased by 7.8 percent in 2019.
There is a diverse population affected by mental illness, and the most notable population are
females. Stress and anxiety in workplace and personal life, on a daily day to day basis
actually lead to complex mental issues on a long standing basis. According to the National
Health and Morbidity survey (2015), it is indicating that women are experiencing more stress,
especially higher among the housewives, which is 30.5 percent. In the context of Malaysia, it
has been reported that the daily work life of the women – professional and personal, leads to

piling of stress and anxiety that on a long term basis, causes adverse mental health conditions
like deep seated emotional issues and depression in the housewives. In other words, if the
wellbeing of housewives is overlooked, the development of our future generation might be
put at risk.
Therefore, study to uphold the wellbeing of housewives is required. But then what
would be feasible and affordable channels for housewives to gain access to activities that
uplift their wellbeing? Physical activities, healthy diet, social support as nature based
methods like gardening and plantation activities in the garden has been found to be effective
to uphold mental health among Malaysians. Meantime, nature-based methods and activities
has increasingly shown to be effectiveness in reducing one's stress level as well as improving
the overall mental well-being (Mohamed, Azlan & Talib, 2018). For instance, a study found
that recovery from stress, anxiety, and depression were achievable and far more
comprehensive as a nature-based resolution to improve mental health of individuals who
were participating in horticulture therapy (Vujcic et al., 2017). It is defined a continuum of
purposeful or passive use of plants and gardens in therapeutic and rehabilitative activities
intended to have a positive impact on a collection of identified health outcomes for
individuals such as physical, emotional, and mental health enhancements (Scott, 2017). As
part of nature-based activities which uphold mental health, gardening has also proven to
contribute various benefits to one's mental well-being by enhancing cognitive capabilities,
increasing positive affects, as well as improving the physical health of a person (Davies,
Devereaux, Lennartsson, Schmutz, & Williams 2014). Particularly, there are growing array
of evidence regarding gardening and its benefits to mental well-being evident (Por &
Shaharom 2017). From Centralized to Decentralized Service: Mental Health and Psychiatry
in Malaysia. In Mental Health in Asia and the Pacific (pp. 175-191). Springer, Boston, MA.).
However, there are still lacking of studies on t how gardening can help to improve mental

well-being for the affected Malaysian populations, particularly housewives (Ismail, 2015).
Even so housewives from lower income group who are living in distressful environment,
according to Karim (2011).
In considering the positive effects of gardening and yet scanty research has been
conducted to understand the effects on the overlooked population, particularly the
housewives from the lower income group (Mansor, Harun & Zakariya 2015), Hence, this
study will explore the experiences of gardening among housewives living in a low-cost
apartment/flats and how it has brought value to lives of the housewives. As indicated by a
study, living in a low-cost flat may cause stress and tension to a person as such living space
can be cramped, and they would have a lack of privacy (Karim, 2011). It is a known fact that
the majority of housewives are the primary caregiver to their children. and tension faced by a
mother as a caregiver can lead to poor caregiving practices while leaving an adverse effect on
the child’s development and mental health. Thus, it is crucial for conduction of In-depth
research to explore and understand better how gardening may be a beneficial tool for these
specific types’ of housewives and their mental wellbeing.
Problem statement
Housewives have higher mental health issues when compared to employed women
(Saravi, Navidian, Rigi, & Montazeri, 2012). According to reports, the rates of women in
Malaysia with severe to mild mental health issues has been increasing, when they are
unemployed There are multiple pieces of researches on women’s mental health issues, and its
connection with their occupations and the results of the rate of mental illness among
housewives is quite alarming even though they are unemployed. For example, a study
reported that the greatest possibility for mental illness was associated with unemployment,
whereby 1.813 times more unemployed women than employed women had more chances of
developing mental illness (Noorbala et al., 2013). The needed attention is not given to

housewives as a subject of interest when it comes to mental health issues in Malaysia as there
are very few to no research that focuses on housewives. It is even so among housewives in
lower income group, as study has shown that health status among Malaysians are influenced
by socioeconomic status (Mariapun, Hairi, & Ng, 2016). Hence, it is very vital to explore
and understand the ways that can be used to enhance the mental well-being of housewives
who come from lower income group.
Many ways have been established to improve one’s mental well-being, such as
physical exercises, which includes cycling, jogging, dancing, and gardening (Sharma,
Madaan, & Petty, 2006). This study will focus on gardening as it has been used by the
horticultural therapist to heal and promote one’s mental well-being. Meanwhile, gardening
such as pot gardening is easily accessible for anyone and it is economical. A study states that
emotional, cognitive, and sensory-motor development and greater social involvement as well
as health, well-being, and satisfaction in life can be mediated through horticultural therapy
(Soderback, Soderstrom & Schalander, 2009). Besides that, gardening is known to be an
enjoyable leisure time activity, which has multiple benefits (Crombie et al., 2004). Weng and
Chiang (2014) also mentioned that gardening activity is a good leisure activity for
psychological restoration leading to the increment of mental well-being.
Furthermore, it has been established by many studies that gardening is therapeutic,
which helps to boost one’s mental well-being. For example, Gross and Lane (2007)
mentioned in their research on how gardening activity had reduce the stress level and can be
used as a way to cope with mental health illness. Taking part in gardening activity has proven
to have both mental and emotional benefits (Hartwig & Mason, 2016), which helps to enrich
one’s well-being. However, there is still a lack of knowledge and awareness on the benefits
of gardening towards mental well-being in Malaysia (Ismail, Utaberta, & Ismail, 2015).

Literature
As a result, there is a lack of study on gardening and the long-term advantages of
having a garden at home, such as pot gardens. The cultivation of crops, including edible
plants, is primarily a discipline of container gardening or pot gardening rather than planting
in the soil. Besides that, most of the research done on gardening focused on community
gardening (gardening is done with a group of individuals).
Furthermore, in Malaysia, there is only a handful of study that relates gardening
activity towards mental health. This research focuses on how pot gardening at home has
benefitted the participants as all the selected samples (housewives) have done pot gardening
from the age of 30-45 years
in their lives. This would help contribute a different outlook and perspective towards
the long-term gardening and help to understand the reasons for their continued participation
in the pot gardening activity. Moreover, generally, there is only a handful of research
conducted that focuses on housewives. Many kinds of research focus on working adults and
different professions, which fails to include housewives as a vital part of studies. Only a few
researches that have been conducted and many stated that housewives have lower mental
health when compared to working women (Saravi, Navidian, Rigi, & Montazeri, 2012).
However, this research does not specify what type of housewives' population as housewives
can come from different backgrounds. This research will fill the gap by focusing on
housewives who live in low-cost flats or apartments and obtain a deep understanding of their
experiences towards pot gardening as standard pots are the most popular planting options for
people living in small living space (Gejdos et al., 2017). The qualitative approach helps to
have a more in-depth understanding and outlook from a housewife's point of view as they

would be free to express their thoughts and emotions towards gardening and what is the value
gardening in their lives.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to understand better gardening experiences of housewives
living in low-cost flats. The main aim is to get a better understanding of how pot gardening
has aided housewives living in low-cost flats through their different experiences and the
changes it has brought to their mental wellbeing. This research will give insights into how
pot gardening can influence mental health, which can help to raise awareness on how
different dimensions of mental health can be promoted through pot gardening..
Significance of the Study
Since there are less research and literature on pot gardening, this study would help to
give insights on how pot gardening influences housewives who live in low-cost flats and
what are the changes it has brought to their mental health and overall wellbeing.
This research can contribute to increase awareness on the benefits of gardening towards
mental health among the mental health professionals Thus, hopefully this study may lead to
changes in the government policies, in which pot gardening can be incorporated as one of the
channels to uphold mental health among the lower income group..
Literature Review
Theoretical Approach
Attention Restoration Theory (ART) (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989) and the Psycho-physiological
stress reduction theory (Ulrich, 1983) are the two leading theories that are commonly related
to gardening and gardening activity. These two theories are in line with the Biophilia
hypothesis, which talks about humans and their needs to associate themselves with nature.n
particular, there is an emotional connection between humans and nature. These two theories
state that with the exposure to nature or natural environments like gardens, humans can

improve their mental health However, in recent times, research indicates that humans have
been distanced from nature and spend about 95 – 99% of their time indoors (Chalquist,
2009).
Kaplan and Kaplan’s (1995) Attention Restoration Theory (ART) has shown that exposing to
natural environment has an impact on cognitive capability. It states that there are four main
components of natural environments that are integral to the experience of attention restoration
in that environment: fascination, being away, extent, and compatibility. According to the
theory, for being away, it helps a person in two different ways to feel like they are away from
their everyday surroundings and environment. Firstly, being physically away, which helps a
person to be in a different location entirely like walking through the gardens or forest.
Secondly, being psychologically away as it helps a person to have different thoughts and
peace of mind, which contributes to a person's cognitive abilities. Morris (2003) also
supported the theory. He added that captivating features such as flowers, vegetables, fruits,
and other natural features in the environment also helps to reduce stress and increase
cognitive capabilities. Secondly, the extent means the natural surrounding have an "extent,"
which helps to create an illusion of an entirely new world that one can be in and be able to
rest. Fascination, however, means that the natural environment could captivate a person's
attention effortlessly, and this allows the person to rest while being immersed in the
surrounding. Clayton (2007) supported this by further stating that natural surrounding
provides an optimal level of sensory stimulation that is neither dull nor overpowering, which
helps with reducing stress. Lastly, compatibility means the ability of the natural environment
to meet the desires and interests of a person. This is all about feeling satisfied and familiar in
the surrounding.
Psycho-physiological stress reduction theory (Ulrich, 1983) focusses more on
emotional and physiological effects due to exposure to nature. It suggests that there are some

physical benefits from carrying out the gardening activity. This theory suggests that being
exposed to natural surroundings after facing a stressful condition would not only help to
reduce it but also promotes fast recovery causing a person to feel more relax. Ulrich explains
that our parasympathetic nervous system will be triggered and makes a person feel at ease.
This is most likely to happen when the person is exposed to natural surroundings or
environments like gardens, forests, parks, and even pictures of nature. He backed his
statement with research that upon viewing pictures of nature compared to a modern
environment, people tend to recover faster from a stressful situation. (Ulrich, Simons, Losito,
Miles & Zelson, 1991). However, he also mentions that physical exercise through gardening
and activity in nature environment have positive effects on stress restoration and increase
mental health. This research was further supported by Barton and Pretty (2010) and Pretty
(2007) with similar results that stated that exercise such as gardening helps to reduce stress
and relax after undergoing stress. Both the theories compliments each other in stating that
contact with nature or natural surrounding brings out positive benefits making a person
emotionally much stable which helps to increase mental health. Taken together, gardening
can help to contribute cognitive skills, positive emotions, and physical health.
The factors behind mental health diseases in housewives
It is to be understood that various reasons are involved or rather responsible for
causation of mental health diseases in the housewives, living in Malaysia. The factors are
multi folded and Challenging, such as balancing the needs of their children and balancing the
husband with their demands and needs of aging parents or in-laws, which leads to
dissatisfaction with life, role and identity crisis which in turn leads to poor mental wellbeing
(Lingren & Decker, 1992). Thus, when the expectations are not met, housewives face
disappointments from other family members, which results in feelings of resentment, anxiety,
and stress (Lingren & Decker, 1992). Although housewives have significantly more free time

than employed women (Clark, Harvey, Shaw, & Michelson, 1990), housewives see their free
or leisure time as a time of loneliness and emptiness (Mingo & Montecolle, 2013). It is a
well-recognized view that loneliness leads to a decrease in wellbeing and has a negative
effect on physical health, perhaps by impairment or change in neuroendocrine (Tiwari, 2013).
A study found that 28% of mothers who stayed at home (full-time housewives) indicated
depression symptoms several times a day, whereas 17% of working moms reported
experiencing depression in a day (Velleskey, 2019). Due to the greater stress rate, it is not
uncommon that housewives experience several physical symptoms such as fatigue,
irritability, headaches, depression, and unhealthy behaviors, such as poor eating habits
(Kermane, 2016).
Knowing the stress housewives are experiencing, their role as a primary caregiver will
be affected. Particularly, there was a significant relationship between a mother’s depression
and child abuse (Kusono, Ono, & Hayakawa, 2010). Also, depressed mothers’ children
demonstrated emotional and behavioral disruption and lag in significant development of
language (Cox, Puckering, Pound, & Mills, 1988). Besides that, a child’s development can be
extremely affected when housewives go through depression frequently during the time of
pregnancy (Field 2017).
It was also suggested that many women experience their first depressant episode
during childbirth, while others are more likely to have recurrence, continuance, or
exacerbation with a history of depression (Bennett et al., 2004). According to research by
Cogill, Caplan, Alexandran, Robson, and Kumar (1986), in the children of whose mothers
suffered from depression, important cognitive differences were observed. Most studies have
shown that stress, depression, and anxiety interfere with the emotional, motor, and behavioral
development of the child through various phases of pregnancy (Venkatesh, Vindhya, & Nath,
2019).

How conduction of gardening activity helps to improve mental wellbeing?
Enhancing Cognitive Skills
Various types of researches indicated that gardening and exposure to the natural
environment, such as horticulture, parks and forests could enhance cognitive processes. A
study found that cognitive processes such as alertness, performance, and attention heighten
when the participants are exposed to the natural surroundings (Shibata & Suzuki, 2002).
Moreover, a study found that botanical extracts such as lavender and lemon balm have a
direct association with cognitive performance and mood changes to relieve the stress faced by
a person (Kennedy, Scholey, Tildesley, Perry, & Wesnes, 2002). Cognitive techniques such
as planning, organizing, and even spreading of knowledge can be achieved and improved
with relations to gardening activity by the housewives (Kaplan, 1995). Hitchings (2010)
conducted a study on the said cognitive benefits from gardening and found that the results
were in line with Kaplan (1995).
Other than that, gardening also helps to develop critical thinking, problem-solving
skills, and analytical abilities by having shared knowledge and understanding of nature
(Kellert & Deer, 1998). A research conducted by Ozkara, Kalkavan, Alemdag, and Alemdag
(2013) suggested that the cognitive capacity of a person can be improved with the exposure
to community gardening where collective empathy building is promoted (James,1892). They
further stated that community gardening has significant implications for increasing
psychosocial parameters. The exposure to gardening calms down the nerves, reduces anxiety
and heals trauma. Post-traumatic resilience can be managed by exposure to green space such
as gardens, which suggests that it helps in increasing effectiveness of the concentration. The
qualitative study that was conducted on five female participants from leisure gardening
improved on accomplishment, achievement, and recognition parameters. This study indicated

that gardening by the housewives provide challenges and cognitive stimulations (Infantino,
2004).
The gardening activity also has proven to help with dementia by increasing the
cognitive functions of a person. It was found that highly integrated activities such as
gardening, which requires attention control, selective attention and increase the ability to
plan, can enhance and stimulate cognitive capabilities such as memory, attention, problems
solving, decision making. Hence, simultaneously reducing the risk of developing dementia
(Fabrigoule et al., 1995). A 16 years longitudinal study by Simons, Simons, McCallum, and
Friedlander (2006) found that there was a 36% reduction in the rate of the chances of
developing dementia when the participants are exposed to daily gardening. Similarly, a study
conducted in France for three years suggested that the risk of dementia was lowered
substantially with the exposure to leisure activity such as gardening (Fabrigoule, Letenneur,
Dartigues, Zarrouk, Commenges, & Barberger-Gateau, 1995).
Consequently, Adhemer (2008) suggested that the restoration quality, which is one of
the cognitive benefits of gardening (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1995), could be used to help people
experiencing mental distress such as poor attention, memory and problem-solving abilities.
Observational studies found out that patients that were exposed to gardening showed
improvement in their cognitive functions and skills such as attention, problem solving and
other memory, behavioural skills (Gonzalez, Hartig, Patil, Martinsen, & Kirkevold, 2010).
Kuo and Taylor (2004) concluded that gardens have high cognitive benefits to kids and helps
their attention, memory, decision making and problem-solving skills. Wells (2000) further
found that exposure to green setting such as a garden or a forest helps in improving the
attention skills in children and their housewife mothers. Hence, living in a greener
surrounding compared to being in the urbanized areas that lacks green tree lines, can
comparatively help enhance attention performance ( both selective attention and attention) in

both children and adults (Kuo & Sullivon, 2001). A housewife has various roles to play and
raising children plus taking care of the other family members increases stress and anxiety in
the housewives. Hence, all these studies indicate that gardening activity helps to improve
memory attention, selective attention and other cognitive capabilities that reduces the risk of
mental health issues.
Heightening of Positive Emotions
Several past studies have reported that exposure to nature surroundings such as
gardens does contribute towards one’s emotional wellbeing. A study reported that individuals
who are involved in gardening stated that visual exposure to gardens reduced their level of
stress that has been caused by traumatic or overwhelming experiences through the uplifting
of positive emotions gained from spending time at their gardens (Sherman, Varni, Ulrich, &
Malcarne, 2005).
The Impacts of Gardening towards Cognitive Capability
Other than that, past studies have highlighted that positive changes in emotions that
occur as an outcome of garden use and spent duration or watching gardens as it gives out
healing experiences (Whitehouse et al., 2001; Sherman et al., 2005). Furthermore, research
stated that natural settings like gardens are the places in which a person obtains increased
positive emotional or spiritual experiences (Orr, Wagstaffe, Briscoe, & Garside, 2016).
The impact of gardening towards emotions
Besides that, environmental programs such as gardening activity at schools have proven to
have beneficial impacts on students as the students reported the experience of heightened
positive emotions after doing gardening and exposing themselves in the natural environment
for some time (Dyg & Wistoft, 2018). Sandell and Ohman (2010) have further explained that
positive emotions that are linked to nature-based learning in institutes are associated with

students’ expression of positive feelings such as happiness or joy as they connect themselves
to other peers and also relating to nature through their senses while learning and conducting
the nature-based activities like gardening in their schools (Dyg & Wistoft, 2018). As a whole,
the impact of the gardening program in schools was beneficial for the students as most of the
students articulated positive emotions such as happiness and sense of looseness both during
and after gardening.
These positive emotions elicited from nature, and gardening activity plays a vital role
in promoting the mental health of an individual. For instance, an improved focus and
awareness brought about by positive emotional experiences can promote the effectiveness of
handling adverse situations, which leads to the growth of one’s mental stability and emotional
wellbeing (Coverdale & Long, 2015). Besides, studies have found that positive emotions can
enhance one’s tolerance against stress, and this enables one to cope with stress more
effectively (Gloria & Steinhardt, 2014), suggesting that positive emotion also acts as a coping
strategy. These findings can be supported by the broaden-and-build theory of positive
emotions, which states that the maintenance of experienced positive emotions can assist a
person to overcome their negative affection such as anxiousness and also to dismount the
negative emotions (Fredrickson, 2004).
The impacts of gardening towards physical health
An allotment gardening is also known to have several advantages, which include an
increase of positive emotions and a reduction of levels of stress. Allotment gardening is a
type of gardening activity that encourages people to rent planting plots so that potential
gardeners can develop their gardening skills. Some studies highlight that allotment gardening
has established the connection between an environment of a garden and its contribution to
positive emotions leading to the reduction of one’s psychological stress and betterment of
physical fitness as well (Hawkins, Mercer, Thirlaway, & Clayton, 2013). For example, a field

of research on recreational activities and its potential coping aspects have shown a significant
relationship between the reduction of stress and the experience of the feelings of enjoyment
gained from recreational activities such as gardening improves joint’s flexibility, movement
and fitness (Hawkins et al., 2013). The above statement suggests that positive emotions
resulting from recreational activities such as gardening are vital in tackling one’s
psychological stress.
Improving Physical Health
Numerous studies suggest that gardening activity not only helps to improve
psychological health but also helps to improve physical health. This is because the action of
gardening requires a lot of physical action (Sempik & Aldridge, 2005; Klemmer, Waliczek,
& Zajicek, 2005). Axel, Cieszewska, Supuka, and Tóth (2016) stated in their study that urban
gardening could be considered as a physical exercise. Gardening requires many physical
movements such as digging, weeding, and even re-potting that are considered as exercises
(Nicklett, Anderson, & Yen, 2014). Hawkins, Thirlaway, Backx, and Clayton (2011) found
that the physical exercises carried out while gardening helps to reduced stress levels when
compared to other physical activity done indoors. A person tends to forget the cause of stress
as the physical actions done while gardening tires out a person and simultaneously reduce a
person’s bad mood (Hawkins, Mercer, Thirlaway, & Clayton, 2013). This is further proven in
a study conducted by Cameron and Taylor (2008) that found that the samples forgot about the
reason they felt stress as soon as they were exhausted from participating in the gardening
activity. A handful of examples further explained that they felt rejuvenated, and their moods
were much happier after participating in such an event. Being physically active has ways to
enlighten a person’s mood and help a person lift their emotions and mental health (Hawkins
et al., 2011).

Moreover, a handful of research also mentions that horticultural therapy (using plants
and gardening) can also provide various benefits and help to achieve a feeling of wellbeing
(Swann, 2010). It can help to improve circadian rhythms regulation (Berman, Jonides &
Kaplan, 2008), decrease cholesterol level and blood pressure level (Armstrong, 2000),
increases mental health, and even improves sleep (Rappe, Koivunen, & Korpela, 2008).
Milligan, Gatrell, and Bingley (2004) concluded from their research that gardening activity
could increase both physical and mental wellbeing concurrently. Physical exercises like
gardening may be useful as a treatment for mental health issues (Dunn and Jewell, 2010).
However, the impact of gardening towards physical benefits yielded mixed results. A study
conducted by Kingsley, Townsend, & Henderson-Wilson (2009) showed that there were no
many physical benefits from participating in gardening. This may be due to believes that only
hard-core exercise, such as swimming and weight lifting, can improve a person’s health
(Morris, Clayton, Semmence, & Burgess, 1990). Park, Shoemaker, and Haub (2009) stated
that gardening might only improve physical function but brings no benefits to physical health.
However, later research conducted by Axel et al. (2016) reflected that there are physical
benefits from gardening, and it is a form of exercise that can enhance physical health.
Conceptual Framework
Enhancing Cognitive
Skills
Heightening of
Positive emotions
Gardening Activity
Improving Physical
Health

Figure 1: The conceptual framework is establishing the dimensions of mental health that can
be promoted through different types of gardening activity as it serves as an ordinance for the
literature review that delves into the dimensions comprehensively.
Research Methodology
Research Design
There will be a conduction of a qualitative study on the experiences of Malaysian
housewives living in low-cost flats who have been practicing pot gardening in order to
understand their experiences with gardening activity. Qualitative research method was chosen
for this study as it is known to be a suitable method to identify and understand an individual's
experience towards a phenomenon (Gross & Lane, 2007). As the perceived experiences from
gardening can and may differ from one individual to another, a qualitative approach to better
understand the participants' interpretation of their gardening experience is important(Heliker,
Chadwick, & O'Connell, 2001; Infantino, 2005). Furthermore, individual face-to-face
interviews will be carried out in person as it offers access to the observation of the body
language and facial expression, which allows for an extensive understanding of the
participant's experiences while making it an ideal technique for a qualitative design (Ekman,
1964). For the local mental health practitioners, the spoken data obtained from the
participants would be vital when planning possible physical and psychological strategies for
the modern-day housewife population from different societal backgrounds.
Participants and Sampling Method
The study samples meeting specific inclusive criteria will be enlisted from low-cost flats
around Selangor. According to the Ministry of Health in 2015, it has been reported that there
is a 39.8 percent prevalence of mental health issues in Kuala Lumpur, followed by 29.3
percent in Selangor, which is one of the highest figures compared to the other states in
Malaysia.

The inclusive criteria of the participants include:
1. The research participants are fulltime housewives and are either of ethnicity which
includes Malay, Chinese, or Indian.
2. The participants who lives in low-cost flats and have been practicing pot gardening
activity. The age group of the participants is 40-60 years (Kim & Park, 2018).
3. The research participants are able to converse in English or Bahasa Malaysia. For the
convenience of the participants, translator will be engaged. .
4. The research participants are caregivers to kids below 18 years of age.
5. The research participants can provide an informed consent
The exclusive criteria of the participants include:
1. The research participants who are employed.
2. The research participants who are currently ill.
3. The research participants who are part of any psychological or clinical healing
intervention.
4. Participants who have a maid or helper helping with household chores are included in
the research. The research idea will be shared among friends and family in order to obtain
volunteers to take part in the research. The research idea will be further spread among
contacts, which will result in the recruitment of an adequate number of participants to conduct
the research. The screening process will be performed with the help of anxiety and
depression screening scale with questionnaires. Potential participants will be recruited
through opportunity sampling and extending to snowballing sampling. This is to ensure that
all the participants enlisted for this study meet the inclusive criteria and exclusion criteria in
order to achieve the research objective. Once the screening is done, and the samples are
selected, a semi-structured interview will be held to understand the research questions further.
The interview will be conducted in a setting that is convenient and comfortable for the

participants, such as their homes (Gubrium & Holstein, 2001), as this would help the
interviewee to open up more.
Materials
Materials that will be used to conduct this research are as below which are in line with IMU-
JC guidelines.
 Consent form
 Research information sheet
 Participants’ demographic information sheet
 Audio recorder
 Interview protocol
As mention previously, screening questionnaires will be used to identify the suitability of
the participants. All the questions will be closed-ended in order to filter the participants and
be able to select the samples that comply with the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Moreover,
there will be a pilot test conducted to determine the understandability of all the forms and
questions for the interview. A pilot test is a smaller version of the study or a trial run
conducted to check the achievability of the study and treated as a pretest of a research
instrument (Baker, 1994). The pilot test will be conducted on friends and relatives, who are
housewives, and the findings will not be used as part of the research. This is to ensure the
feasibility of the interview session to achieve the objective of the research. Questions such as
“How long have you been gardening?” and “How often do you do gardening?” would be the
basis to predetermine the sample’s history with gardening. Upon understanding the general
factors, more emotional related questions such as “What influences you to take gardening as
a part of your daily life?” and “How can gardening influence your life?” to understand better
how gardening has improved the sample’s life and its contribution.
Procedures

The participants are from the low-income groups and they might not able to
understand significance of gardening in combating mental health illness. This research will
help participants to understand how they can use gardening in combating mental health
illness. Interviewers will explain them about the effectiveness of this research. They will
select the homemakers on the basis of the answers in screening questionnaires. Before
beginning with the interview, the participant will be informed on the aim and purpose of the
study and will be given a consent form to be filled following IMU-JC guidelines. They
should be informed all the details of the interviews. Participants will be invited to have a
face-to-face interview for eliciting their experiences for data collection. The interview session
will be held according to the agreed-upon time and place of preference. The participant will
be reminded of the interview session one day before it is conducted to ensure that the
participant is free and available to spend time. The interview session is estimated to take
around 30 minutes to an hour to accurately be able to get sufficient spoken data from each
participant (A Short Guide for Conducting Research Interviews, 2014). The entire interview
will be audio recorded with the participants’ consent, and the recording will be transcribed.
The transcribed data will be further analyzed and interpreted to conclude the research. Upon
the completion of the interview session, each participant will be given a token of appreciation
in the form of a voucher, which complies with the IMU-JC guidelines.
Data analysis strategy
Chevalier (2018) suggest that data compilation and interpretation of a qualitative
study need to be a continuous procedure. The researcher also states that the analysis of data in
qualitative research involves the classification of people, objects, events, and the possessions
that exemplify the data (Chevalier, 2018). A qualitative study that focused on the experiences
of the stuff which provided Positive Behavioural Support Training services to the public,
used thematic analysis to evaluate the data of the study (Frost et al., 2018). Therefore, the

thematic analysis technique is found to be a suitable method for this study as it aims to get an
insight and understanding of housewives on experiences linked with exposure to gardening
activity. Thematic analysis method is used for analysis, classification, and establishment of
themes related to the collected data (Braun & Clarke, 2019). The established themes are
trends in data sets that are vital for the defining of the experiences linked with exposure to the
gardening activity of Malaysian housewives. Braun and Clarke (2019) claim that there are six
steps used in the thematic framework to the data.
Firstly, to obtain an understanding of the overall concept, the researcher will read the
transcribed data collected from the interviews in order to develop a degree of familiarity with
the data collected. Secondly, from each transcript, essential statements and sentences linked
to the participants’ experiences with exposure to the gardening activity will be extracted.
Then, initial codes or meanings from essential claims will be generated. Next, the meanings
or codes will be structured into themes, which will gradually become from clusters of theme
to categories of theme. Moving on, a primary analysis will be conducted by a color-coded
scheme, which will be used to emphasize specific themes or classes. Lastly, the specific
themes will be defined; a detailed and comprehensive description of the housewives’
experiences will then be written by the researcher, from which the fundamental framework of
the experiences will be articulated. To ensure the validity, the participants will be asked to
validate the illustrative results of the researcher with their experiences.
Establishing trustworthiness of data
The validity of this qualitative study is to be established by using several approaches
in order to ensure the accuracy of the outcomes. In order to provide a consistent rationale for
the themes, triangulation from various sources of data will be utilized. Member audits or
member checking shall be used to assess the preciseness of the researcher’s findings by
returning participants to the final descriptions or themes (Creswell, 2009). Authenticity,

credibility, and trustworthiness can also apprehend the validity of a qualitative study
(Creswell & Miller, 2000). Dependability, credibility, confirmability, and transferability are
aspects that can confirm the trustworthiness of the findings. An audit trail was created to
ensure that all transcripts, reports, notes, audiotapes, were recorded and stored to prove the
dependability of the findings. Supervisors are included in the study by analysing the
significance of relationship with the gardening to reduce stress and depression in housewives.
Initiation of urgency can induce in them by explaining the research method and data
collection method. Audit trail will conduct with supervisors among lecturers. Feedbacks are
taken from the lecturers during presentations. Surveys and questionnaires filling will be
conducted for assessing the quality of data. Additionally, member checking will also be used
to show the credibility through participants’ analysation and validation of the transcripts.
Through connecting the data to the sources, confirmability will also be established. In this
instance, purposive sampling would enhance deep understanding by choosing data from
participants with actual and extensive experience linked to exposure to gardening activity
(Patton, 2002). To determine the authenticity, the researchers need to document the
perspectives of each participant to ensure that the meaning of the findings will be preserved
and that every view is portrayed correctly so that the audience can make an unbiased
judgment. The researcher will also make use of bracketing techniques whereby the researcher
with the direction of the supervisor will continually focus on avoiding own biases or
impartiality and maintaining the integrity or/and validity of the findings (Creswell, 2009).
There is a bias that is continually being identified by the researcher;
a) Researcher practices gardening activity and believes that it can contribute to improving
mental health and many other benefits.
Ethical consideration
A set of guidelines to protect the participants were drawn up before the work starts;

1. The privacy of participants ' statistical and spoken data will be retained in order to protect
the well-being of the participants.
2. Trustworthiness, validity, goodness and sensitivity are integrated part of qualitative
research. Participant’s sensitivity about emotional and financial status should be maintained
(Marshall & Rossman, 2014).
3. A pseudonym will be created in order to protect the identity of participants, as a number of
the details about their ethnicity, socioeconomic status and race and so on may be too sensitive
to be revealed (Marshall & Rossman, 2014).
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