웃음치료 프로그램이 독거노인의 우울, 고독감 및 대인관계에 미치는 효과

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of laughter therapy program on depression, loneliness, and interpersonal relations of the elderly living alone. A quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group, pretest-posttest design was conducted. Participants were 46 male and female elderly living alone (23 subjects in the experiment group and 23 in the control group) from two senior citizen centers located in the J-eup, Jeju island. Data were collected from January 15 to February 5, 2015. The experimental group participated in laughter therapy four times, once a week for 50 minutes per session. Questionnaires were used to measure pretest and posttest levels of depression, loneliness, and interpersonal relations. The data analysis was conducted using χ²-test, t-test, and ANCOVA. The results were as follows: 1) The elderly living alone who participated in the laughter therapy program showed a statistically significant decrease in depression than control group (F=18.70, p<.001). 2) The elderly living alone who participated in the laughter therapy program showed a significant decrease in loneliness than control group (F=8.65, p<.001). 3) The elderly living alone who participated in the laughter therapy program showed a significant increase in interpersonal relations than control group (F=10.95, p<.001). The results showed that the laughter therapy program was effective in alleviating the depression and loneliness of the elderly living alone and boosting their interpersonal relations. This study may suggest the way for future research on laughter therapy programs, and it seems that this program can widely be utilized as one of using intervention programs for the elderly living alone.