Elderly Health Journal

Introduction: Leisure activities are common among the elderly, however the effect of such activities on their mental health is poorly defined and not underpinned by strong evidence. This study aims to determine the prevalence of leisure activities and its relation to mental health in the elderly.

Methods: A cross- sectional study was conducted and 400 community dwelling older adults 60 years and more with appropriate cognitive function (Abbreviated Mental Test score 7 and more), were recruited through multi-stage stratified cluster sampling in Tehran, Iran. Data was gathered by demographic questionnaire and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). The primary outcomes to measure were the prevalence of leisure activities, and GHQ score in subgroups. Data were analyzed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, ANOVA, independent t-test and multiple linear regressions.

Results: Of participants 62% were in their 7th decade (60-74 years), 56% (224) were female with mean age of 66.98 ± 8.22 , and 44% (176) male with mean age of 66.98 ± 8.22. GHQ scores showed 65% of participants had good mental health (0-23) and 35% had mental health problems (24 and more). Mean of GHQ score in participants (n = 377) was 21.8 ± 11.37 (0-28). watching television (77%), reading books ( 40.3%), walking (31.5%) and taking trip (36%) were more interesting leisure activities among older adults .Women, single, unemployed, alone and illiterate older adults had statistically significant(p ≤ 0.05) upper GHQ scores. Participating in active leisure activities such as taking trip and cultural classes, participating in non-government organization activities, going to parks and gym and walking had significant relationships with good mental health (p ≤0.05). 

Conclusion: Encouraging older adults to participation in active leisure activities would be an effective intervention in mental health improvement. On the other hand understanding of relationship between type of leisure activities and mental health, provides evidence for policy makers and health care planners to offer and facilitate a context in which older adults can improve participation  in active leisure activitie.

Introduction: Health improvement, control of communicable diseases and increase in life expectancy among the elderly of developed and developing countries has greatly increased. Since the health care and social needs of older adults differ from that of other adults, it is necessary to identify the needs of the elderly in order to make proper plans that will promote their health. The aim of this paper is to critically review these researches.

Methods: A comprehensive literature review on the needs assessment of elderly health was applied searching English and Persian databases in Pub Med, Science Direct, ProQuest, Elsevier, Magiran, ISC and using key words including, Health need, Assessment, Elderly, Aging, Older adults, Aged and Health care needs.

Results: Initial search yielded 745 references, considering the inclusion criteria, 21 papers were reviewed. Results revealed that in conducting needs assessment, various methods and procedures in various health dimensions including physical health, mental health, emotional, care, social, cultural, economic, nutritional, service, security, legal and educational needs have been utilized. Some of the dimensions had been more explored and some rarely.

Conclusion: Most of the conducted studies had mainly focused on the elderly physical health needs and had neglected to take in to account other needs such as social and health care needs. In order to comprehensively recognize the health needs of the elderly, identifying their health care and care services is also important. Furthermore, in addition to quantitative studies, discovering the older adults’ perceptions of their own health needs is also necessary. It seems that the challenge ahead of managers, experts and researchers on elderly health is trying to design comprehensive mechanisms of health need assessment and considering it as a reference for any future planning.