PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Wong, Peng Yong Andrew
AU  - Tan, Min Hui
AU  - Seah, Si Ying Sharna
AU  - Low, Lian Leng
AU  - Low, Sher Guan
AU  - Lee, Kheng Hock
TI  - Perceptions of participants and organisers of a social prescribing programme for hospital staff through horticulture (SP4S-H) in the community hospitals in Singapore: a qualitative study
AID  - 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-088160
DP  - 2025 Apr 01
TA  - BMJ Open
PG  - e088160
VI  - 15
IP  - 4
4099  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/4/e088160.short
4100  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/4/e088160.full
SO  - BMJ Open2025 Apr 01; 15
AB  - Objectives Hospital workers face multiple biopsychosocial stressors in the course of their work, which could potentially be addressed by social prescribing of horticultural activities. However, the effectiveness of such interventions has not been evaluated. We conducted a qualitative study to understand the perceptions of participants and organisers of a horticulture-based social prescribing intervention for staff (SP4S-H) in three community hospitals in Singapore.Design The RE-AIM Planning and Evaluation Framework was used to develop our semistructured interview guides and guided our thematic analysis. Indepth interviews were conducted with subsequent transcribing, coding and iterative analysis until thematic saturation was reached.Setting Three community hospitals in Singapore, between May 2022 and June 2024.Participants 26 hospital staff.Results SP4S-H was perceived to have a positive impact on staff, including increasing their knowledge on horticulture, team bonding, positive emotions and self-help skills. Barriers to participation included participants preferring not to spend time outside working hours (ie, lunch hours) for SP4S-H or attending physical meetings. Appealing to the interest of staff, overcoming barriers in their attendance, organising the events and improving the working culture of participants were found to influence the reach, implementation and sustainability of SP4S-H.Conclusion SP4S-H was perceived to be beneficial by hospital workers in improving social connectedness and their ability to cope with stress. The importance of having the support of senior management, adequacy of resources and deliberate staff engagement in rolling out this initiative cannot be underestimated.All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information.