Effectiveness of Laughter Therapy on Depression Among Elderly Residing in Selected Old Age Home At Namakkal.

Abstract

Aging is a natural process that brings about physiological, psychological and cognitive changes. It involves gradual changes in the body, mind, and social life over time. Mental disorders are common among the elderly with serious symptoms of depression and social isolation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Laughter therapy on depression & to find out the association between post-test level of depression with their selected Demographic variables among the elderly residing in a selected old age home at Namakkal.

A pre experimental one group pre test post test design was adopted for this study. A total of 40 elderly with depression were selected using purposive sampling technique from a selected old-age home, Namakkal & those who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Depression was assessed using a standardized tool Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Laughter Therapy such as Welcome laughter, Milky laughter, Hearty laughter and Lion laughter for 20 minutes twice a day for 5 consecutive days were administered. The data were analyzed using descriptive & inferential statistics. the Mean of the Pre test and Post test was 8.48 and 5.15 respectively and Standard Deviation of the Pre test and Post test was 1.71 and 2.16 respectively. The Mean difference was 3.33. The paired “t” test value was 11.95. At the 0.001 level of significance, the computed value of 11.95 is greater than the tabulated value of 3.55 . This shows that the difference in the score was due to the intervention (Laughter therapy) and also this proves that the laughter therapy was effective in reducing the depression among elderly residing in old age home. The chi-square analysis was used to find the association between the post test level of depression among elderly with their selected demographic variables. It shows that the calculated value is greater than the table value in age, sex, Medical illness,History of taking medications are significantly associated with their selected demographic variables.