Gardening at Any Age: A Gardening Workshop for Hispanic Older Adults

A health education workshop was developed to encourage Hispanic older adults to participate in gardening, with four objectives: (1) explain the benefits of gardening, (2) expand skills and knowledge on how to grow an indoor garden, (3) identify culturally relevant fruits and vegetables, and (4) integrate age-related adaptations to accommodate physical limitations while gardening. The one and half-hour Spanish-speaking workshop was taught via Zoom. The instructor created the curriculum for the workshop based on Malcolm Knowles' Andragogy Learning Theory. After the workshop, a program evaluation was administered to the six attendees, five female, and one male. Fifty percent of the participants indicated that they wanted to start growing herbs in the home, 25% wanted to care for house plants, and 25% wanted to have an outdoor garden. Upon completion, all participants (100%) indicated that they felt gardening could help them stay healthy and engage in physical activity and that they felt confident in making accommodations for any physical limitations they may have. This workshop aimed to raise awareness about the benefits of gardening that will lead to healthy behaviors, such as increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and engaging in physical activity. Recommendations for future application of this program are to offer it in-person to allow for more hands-on experience and socialization among the participants.