The Effects of a Psycho-Education Program on the Depressive Symptoms Among Older Adults

Abstract

Depressive symptoms, commonly found in the elderly, affected their quality of life and their families, thus  leading to social, community and national problems. This quasi-experimental research aimed to examine the  effects of the psycho-education program on the depressive symptoms among the older adults. The  participants were 66 older adults, aged 60-89 years. They were randomized into an experimental group and a control group, 33 persons in each group. The experimental group participated in the psycho-education program with two hours session weekly for eight weeks. The control group received standard care. The  results were collectedby using the Thai Depressive Inventory (TDI) evaluation form. Data were analyzed by  using descriptive statistics included frequency, percentage and mean. The results of both groups were  compared with chi-square, Fisher’s exact test and t-test.The results showed that the mean scores of  depressive symptoms in the experimental group after participated in the psycho-education program (6.21)  were lower than the mean scores before engaged the program (19.00) (p < 0.001). The difference of the  mean score of preand post-receiving psycho-education program (12.79) was more than the experimental  groups (0.67) (p < 0.001).Therefore, the psycho-education program is effective in reducing the depressive  symptoms of the older adults. The health personnel can apply the psycho-education program for the elderly to reduce their depressive symptoms.