NAMYANGJU — The city of Namyangju in Gyeonggi Province is tapping farming and rural resources to help people with mild dementia and their family caregivers recover emotional and physical well-being.
The city said on the 2nd that it will run a care farming program for 20 participants, including people with mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment and their family members, designed to restore physical and emotional vitality.
The program is being carried out through cooperation between the city's Agricultural Technology Center, under its 2026 farm experience promotion project, and the dementia care center at the Eastern Public Health Center. The aim is to ease the burden of caregiving and bring energy back into daily life by having patients and their families take part together in a rural natural setting.
The sessions will run through November 26 at Jooyeon Farm in Jingeon-eup, across a total of seven sessions. Activities include walks along farm trails and chestnut gathering that let participants feel the change of seasons, as well as gardening with conifer houseplants and making herb potpourri to stimulate the five senses.
"We hope this healing program brings warmth to the physical and emotional health of patients and their families and helps restore their daily lives," an official at the Namyangju Agricultural Technology Center said. "We will continue to combine the therapeutic value of farming with health and welfare services in various ways to expand care farming that residents can experience firsthand."
