Iranian Journal of Rehabilitation Research in Nursing

Introduction: Due to the increasing longevity of the elderly, improvement of psycho-social satisfaction, quality of life, and protection of health is important in the elderly. Since the elderly are very vulnerable in terms of mental health, use of cheap, efficient and safe methods, such as instilling hope and active listening program for the mental health of older people, is recommended. This study aimed at investigating the effect of instilling hope and active listening program on mental health of elderly residents of Kahrizak nursing home.

Methods: In this semi-experimental study with pre and posttests, 90 elderly residents of Kahrizak nursing home, which fulfilled the inclusion criteria participated in 2 groups; one case group and one control group, which were divided by randomized permuted block. The case group received 90 days of hope facilitation and active listening intervention. Data was gathered using demographic test information questionnaire and a 28-question mental health. SPSS version 20 was applied for data analysis.

Results: After the intervention, the mean and standard deviation of mental health in the intervention and control groups were 23/10 ± 44/20 and 9/11 ± 56/23, respectively. There was a significant difference between the mental health of the 2 groups so that the average score had improved in the intervention group when compared to the control group (P < 0.001). Within group analysis indicated that before the intervention there was no statistically significant difference between the scores of mental health in the intervention and control groups (P > 0.05). However, after the intervention, the average of mental health score in the intervention group increased significantly (P < 0.05), while the mental health score in the control group did not change significantly (P > 0.05).

Conclusions: This study showed that the effect of instilling hope and active listening program cause the promotion of mental health in the intervention group. Thus it seems instilling hope and active listening program can be applicable along with other methods of care and rehabilitation as a simple, safe, inexpensive, and effective technique in promotion of mental health, and reduce the symptoms of mental disorders in the elderly.