Investigating the effect of role-playing training on depression of elderly women referring to comprehensive health service centers.

Abstract

Background: Depression is one of the most important mood disorders that often causes physiological, behavioral and psychological symptoms. One of the common methods in cognitive behavioral therapy is the role-playing model, which makes the learning effect more permanent. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of role-playing training on depression of elderly women who referred to comprehensive health service centers in East of Guilan in 2022-2023.

Materials and methods: This semiexperimental study was conducted on 66 elderly people who referred to comprehensive health service centers in East of Guilan. Elderly were selected using the available sampling method. The research instruments for data collection included demographic profile questionnaire, the Abbreviated Mental Test score (AMT) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). During the pretest, the participants completed the depression questionnaire and those with scores higher than 4 were divided into two intervention and control groups. Then, training based on the role-playing method was provided in 6 sessions in the intervention group, and again, after 2 months, the depression questionnaire was completed by the elderly. The data were analyzed using SPSS 16 and a significance level of 0.05 considered.

Results: Before training, the average score of depression was 7.31 (SD = 1.64) and 7.39 (SD = 1.75) in the intervention and control groups, respectively, and after training, it was equal to 4.31 (SD = 1.93) and 8.12 (SD = 1.75) in the intervention and control groups, respectively. The average depression score of elderly women after the intervention in the role-playing training group was significantly lower than the control group.

Conclusion: Considering the incidence of depression in the elderly, especially elderly women, which can be associated with a decrease in their performance and quality of life, education can play a role in reducing the level of depression and improving their quality of life.