The health promotion model for prevention of mental Health problems of the Elderly in Community

Abstract

This research was a quasi-experimental research, two group pre-post tests and follow-up design for 3 months. The purpose of this research was to study the health promotion model for the prevention of mental Health problems and dementia of the elderly in community. The samples were 24 elderly who were 60-80 years old, and randomly assigned into the experimental group 12 people and the control groups 12 people. The experimental group received the programs of 7 sessions in 12 weeks. The tools were Self-esteem, Stress assessment (ST-5), mental health assessment (T-GMHA-15), Mini mental state examination-Thai version (MMSE-T 2002), and the model for promoting mental health and preventing dementia in the elderly. Data were analyzed by using frequency, percentage, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, Paired sample t-test, and independent t-test.

The results found that the experimental group were higher level of self-esteem, reduced stress better mental health and preliminary brain functions that were statistically significantly higher than before participation in the program at .05 levels. There was statistically significant difference compare the mean scores of self-esteems, stress, mental health and cognitive performance among the elderly between the experimental group and the control groups. Conclusions; the contents and adoption of the activities held to 12 weeks were appropriate to the context in the area for implementation. This can help strengthen the elderly's self-esteem and better mental health, stimulate more memory. The results were prevention of mental health problems as well as helping to slow down the dementia of the elderly.