Effects of the Life-Love Program on depression, perceived burdensomeness, and suicidal ideation

• Published in: Collegian (Royal College of Nursing, Australia) Vol. 27; no. 1; pp. 102 - 108
• Main Authors: Hong, Misook, Gang, Moonhee, Lee, Jihye
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2020
• Subjects: Aged; Burdensomeness; Depression; Prevention; Suicide; Prevention; Burdensomeness; Depression; Aged; Suicide
• ISSN: 1322-7696
• DOI: 10.1016/j.colegn.2019.04.003

Elderly suicide is a significant issue worldwide. While many suicide-prevention programs for older adults have been implemented, these programs may not be feasible or beneficial in rural areas. Thus, the effects of appropriate interventions for rural elderly people must be assessed. This study aimed to examine the effects of the Life-Love community-centered suicide-prevention program on depression, perceived burdensomeness, and suicidal ideation in rural Korean elderly people. A non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. Participants were 32 rural older adults (experimental group n = 16 and control group n = 16). The experimental group received the Life-Love Program once a week for seven months. The effects of the study program were measured by means of the Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form (GDSSF-Korean version), the “burdensomeness” domain of the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire-Revised (INQ-R-Korean version) and the Scale for Suicide Ideation (SSI-Korean version) at the baseline visit and seven months later. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, a Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, independent t-tests, and ANCOVA with SPSS WIN 22.0. The experimental group showed a significant decrease in perceived burdensomeness (F = 12.21, p = .002) and suicidal ideation (F = 5.49, p = .026) compared to the control group. This study evaluated the effects of the Life-Love Program on reducing depression, perceived burdensomeness, and suicidal ideation in rural elderly participants. In addition, the limitation of the study and future study were discussed. The results of this study suggest that the Life-Love Program can be used as an effective intervention to reduce burdensomeness and suicidal ideation in older adults.