ABSTRACT

Objective: This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of an agro-healing program in improving social interaction, problem behaviors, and parenting stress among children with developmental disabilities. Methods: This study included 10 children with developmental disabilities (10–12 years old) and their parent. The agro-healing program took place weekly for a year in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, with 120-min sessions. The effects of the program on children's social maturity, social interaction, communication, problem behaviors, and sensory processing were assessed. Parenting stress levels and program satisfaction were also measured, and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: The agro-healing program showed positive effects in enhancing the social age and reducing the frequency and intensity of problem behaviors. Additionally, the program was found to contribute, to some extent, toward alleviating parenting stress experienced by some parents of children with developmental disabilities. Conclusion: The agro-healing program contributed to meaningful improvements in children with developmental disabilities. Future research should focus on expanding and refining the program through continued research on developmental disabilities.