Kannika Pawapaiboon. Psychological self-care behavior, hope, and social support among the elderly in Ratchaburi province . Master's Degree(Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2003.
Psychological self-care behavior, hope, and social support among the elderly in Ratchaburi province
Abstract:
This study was survey research whose purpose was to examine and compare the level of psychological self-care behavior, hope and social support between the elderly who participated and those who did not participate in the elderly club in Ratchaburi Province. The sample was recruited from the elderly residing in Ratcgaburi Municipality, who participated in the elderly club of Boromarajchonni Ratchaburi Nursing College. A purposive sample of 120 subjects was then compared with another 120 sujects who did not participate in the elderly club or other groups. Data were collected through interviews according to the research instrument that was composed of four parts: Demographic data, Psychological Self-Care Behavior Scale (Uniphan, J.1991), Herth Hope Index (Herth,1992), and Social Support Questionnaire (Hanucharernlul, S.1988) from September to November, 2002. Data were then analyzed by descriptive statistics and independent t-test.
The study results revealed that the mean scores on psychological self-care behavior of both groups were ranked at the medium level. Further, the mean scores on hope and social support of the participating elderly were ranked at the high level, while those of the non-participating elderly were ranked at the medium level. In addition, as regards group comparison, the mean scores on psychological self-care behavior, hope, and social support of the participating elderly were statistically significantly higher than those of the non-participating elderly at the .001 level.
The results suggested that the elderly club participation should be increasingly encouraged. As such, the primary information about psychological self-care behavior, hope, and social support should be a guideline for community mental health nurses to both promote mental health through the elderly clubs and to approach the community dwelling elderly who do not participate in the elderly club. Moreover, to create coursework in Mental Health Nursing, experience with well elderly in the elderly club should be provided for nursing students as a guideline in promoting mental health in more disparate groups of the elderly.