Happiness or hopelessness in late life: A cluster RCT of the 3L‐Mind‐Training programme among the institutionalized older people

• Published in: Journal of advanced nursing Vol. 76; no. 1; pp. 312 - 323
• Main Authors: Chiang, Yi‐Chen, Lee, Chun‐Yang, Hsueh, Shao‐Chieh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.01.2020
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Cluster Analysis; cluster RCT; depression; Depression - psychology; elderly people; Female; Geriatrics; Happiness; Health promotion; Hope; Hopelessness; Humans; institution; Intervention; Life events; Male; Mental depression; Mental health; Mental health promotion; nursing home; Older people; Quality of Life; Review boards; Science and technology; Single-Blind Method; subjective well‐being; Taiwan; Technology; Wheelchairs; Taiwan; cluster RCT; institution; subjective well-being; elderly people; nursing home; depression; mental health promotion
• ISSN: 0309-2402; 1365-2648
• DOI: 10.1111/jan.14104

Aim To explore the effectiveness of a new mental health promotion activities programme by including the criterion variables of happiness and depressive mood. Design A single‐blinded, clustered, randomized and controlled trial. Method A list consisting of the names of elderly residents was provided by the senior social worker at a geriatric institution. The participants recruited for the study were living on one of four different floors that had separate and non‐interfering spaces and having comparable disabilities. The researchers randomly assigned residents on two floors as members of the intervention group; the other residents were considered the control group. The intervention groups attended 6 weeks of the 3L‐Mind‐Training programme, whereas the control group only engaged in regular health promotion activities. The mini version of the Chinese Happiness Inventory was adapted to measure happiness. The Geriatric Depression Scale short‐form was used to measure depression in older people. A generalized estimating equation was used to analyse the short‐term and durative effects. Findings The 126 residents included in the study were 65–97 years old, and 90% of the residents relied on wheelchairs. The intervention activities give significant immediate and durative effects both on subjective well‐being enhancement and depressive mood relief. When evaluating the overall intervention activity, 93.8% of the aged residents indicated that this programme was helpful and allowed them to view life events positively. Conclusion and impact A well‐planned mind‐training programme could help elderly people reform their viewpoint and create a more fun and happy experience of ageing. Trial registration: Data were obtained from the project, initiated in 2014, which was funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan and was approved by the Institutional Review Board in Chung Shan Medical University (No. CS15009). The trial registration number of the study was No. ChiCTR1900021811. 目的 通过快乐和抑郁情绪的标准变量,探讨一项新的促进心理健康活动计划的有效性。 设计 一项单盲、分组、随机及对照试验。 方法 老年机构的高级社工提供了一份老人名单。研究招募的受试者都居住在四层楼中的一层,四个楼层有着相互独立且互不干扰的空间,且受试者残疾程度相似。科研人员将两层楼的居民随机分配为干预组的成员;其他居民则被视为对照组。干预组参加了为期6周的3L精神训练计划,对照组则只定期参加促进健康的活动。采用迷你版的中国人幸福感量表来衡量幸福程度。采用老年抑郁衡量表简表衡量老年人的抑郁程度。采用广义估计方程分析短期及持续效应。 发现 该研究中的126名居民年龄在65‐97岁之间,90%的居民依靠轮椅生活。干预活动对提高主观幸福感及缓解抑郁情绪都有显著的即时和持续效果。在评估整个干预活动时,93.8%的老年居民表示该计划有所帮助,并让他们能够积极看待生活中的事情。 结论与影响 精心策划的精神训练计划能够帮助老年人改变他们的观点并创造一个更加有趣和快乐的老龄化体验。 试验注册 数据来源于2014年启动由台湾科技部资助的项目,并由中山医学大学机构审核委员会批准(编号:CS15009)。该研究的试验注册编号为ChiCTR1900021811。