Elderly people living in old age homes who received mind-body interventions—Benson's Relaxation Technique, Guided Imagery, and mindfulness exercises—showed substantial improvements in psychological health. Stress scores dropped from an average of 23.71 to 10.86, anxiety from 27.62 to 12.71, and depression from 10.05 to 5.24, while quality of life scores rose from 37.81 to 54.24. A control group receiving routine care showed minimal changes. Physical and biochemical markers remained largely unchanged in both groups. The findings suggest that integrating these non-pharmacological techniques into nursing care can significantly enhance elderly well-being.
Receptive Provocation therapy, a multisensory stimulation approach, improves cognitive function and level of consciousness in patients with traumatic brain injury. In a randomized trial, 70 patients were assigned to either an experimental group that received 20-25 minutes of RP therapy daily for seven days or a control group that received routine care. Assessments on day eight showed significant improvements in cognitive function and consciousness in the experimental group, while the control group showed no significant changes. The findings suggest that RP therapy is an effective intervention for enhancing recovery after TBI.
A 12-week mindfulness program for elderly residents of old age homes in Chennai reduced stress and depression but did not significantly lower serum cortisol levels. Among 48 participants aged 60-80, 83.33% of those in the mindfulness group reported low stress afterward, compared to 12.50% in the control group. Depression also improved: 41.67% of the mindfulness group reached expected levels, while 70.83% of controls remained moderately depressed. Serum cortisol did not change significantly. The findings suggest mindfulness can benefit mental health in institutionalized elderly, but longer interventions or other biomarkers may be needed to detect physiological changes.
A quasi-experimental study of 60 older adults found that an eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program improved quality of life and psychological well-being. Participants in the MBSR group showed a moderate positive correlation between improved quality of life and well-being (r = 0.46), while the control group receiving routine care showed a weak, non-significant correlation (r = 0.15). MBSR appears to enhance both mental health and quality of life in older adults.