The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of positive horticultural therapy (PHT) on the self-respect and the personality and talent in elderly women. Elderly women were divided into 2 groups as the control and the experimental group, which performed a positive horticultural therapy program for eight weeks. The results were summarized as follows: self-respect was recognized in all factors of ‘Self-confidence, cooperative mind, optimistic mind, satisfaction, self-respect, presence, positive outlook, accomplishment, and sense of excellence’ Positive horticultural therapy programs were positively related to improving self-respect and quality of life of the elderly women (p<.01). The personality and talent score of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group in all factors: ‘[t]he pursuit of meaning, personal relationships, reliability, sincerity/acceptance, compassion, sympathy, being earnest, responsibility, self-awareness, altruism, respect and praise for others, and grace’ (p<.01). Also it can be confirmed that it has a positive effect on the mental, physical, and social lives of the elderly women. Therefore, positive horticultural therapy with horticultural therapy and positive psychology, be confirms that the above results are very useful for improving the self-respect and quality of life in elderly women; also, it can be suggested that the above results are very useful for improving self-respect or quality of life of various objects.

• Sung Ju Han(Department of Public Health, Graduate School, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, South Korea) Corresponding author