The Effect of the Senior Schooling Program to Increase the Happiness Level Among the Elderly Living in Muen Wai Sub-district, Mueang District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province

Abstract

This quasi–experimental pretest-posttest with control group research design examined the effect of senior schooling program to increase the happiness level among the elderly living in Mueang District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province. The samples of the research were randomly selected, compromising 70 elderlies. They were divided into two groups consisted of 35 participants in the experimental group and another 35 in the control group. The research tools were senior schooling program, that the experimental group have to join activities once a week for 18 weeks, and the Thai Mental Health Indicator Version 2007 (TMHI-55). All research instruments were validated for content validity by professional experts. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired sample t-test and independent t-test.

The research findings found as follows: 48.5 percent of the experimental group had a poor level of happiness and 57.1 percent of the control group had a fair level of happiness. The mean score of happiness of the elderly in the experimental group after participating in the senior schooling program was significantly higher prior to the experiment at .05 level of significance. Also, the mean score of happiness of the elderly in the experimental group after participating in the senior schooling program was significantly higher than the control group at .05 level of significance. The results of this study suggested that this program could support the elderly to participate in physical, mental, social and environmental health promotional activities. Consequently, the senior schooling program is effective for increasing the level of happiness among the elderly. Therefore, such program should be continuously implemented in other communities to promote elderly happiness.