Mental Health Status, Hope, and Self-Care Behaviors Regarding Mental Health of Elderly in Maha Sarakham Municipality

Abstract

The purposes of this research were to study the mental health status, self-care
behaviors as well as hope of elderly living at the Mahasarakham Municipality. A total of
432 elders were selected and answered a questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of
1) personal information profiles, 2) Thai General Health Questionnaires (Thai GHQ-12),
Self-Care Behavior Regarding Mental Health and 3) The Herth Hope Index (HHI). The
internal consistency of The GHQ-12 and HHI was examined by Cronbach’s alpha
coefficient being 0.82 and 0.77, respectively. Data were analyzed by conventional
descriptive statistics, test of association via Cramers’V coefficient and chi-square test.
The results revealed that 283 (65.5%) of elderly had no but 149 (34.5%) had mental
health problems. The hope in the future of elderly was moderate up to high (310
(71.8%) and 118 (27.3%), respectively). The association between mental health status
and hope was investigated by a test of association. There was a low no significant
correlation between mental health status and hope (  2 =4.196, p-value= 0.123,
Cramer’s coefficient V=0.099). Anxiety of the elderly was related to health and illness
(169 (53.6%)), family (89 (28%) and finances (57 (18.4%)). Self-care behaviors
regarding mental health, most of the eldely go in for the religion activities (125 (39.7%))
exercises (81 (25.7%)), and social as well as recreation activities (63 (20%)).
The findings suggests that mental health promoting activities should and could be
implemented for elderly people in order to promote self-care behaviors regarding
mental health ability and increase the quality of life of elderly people.