The Effect of Laughter Therapy on the Mental Health of Elderly Living in a Nursing Home

Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa

Status: Completed

Conditions: Laughter; Mental Health Issue; Elderly; Well-Being, Psychological; Life Satisfaction

Treatments: Other: Laughter therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06722872

IstanbulUC-NURS-OK-01

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study was designed and conducted as a randomized controlled experimental research with a pre-test and post-test control group to evaluate the effect of laughter therapy on psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and mental health of elderly individuals living in a nursing home.

Full description

Among the most important indicators of successful aging are individuals' ability to derive satisfaction from life, maintain cognitive and social competence, sustain mental and physical health, possess a sense of personal control, and experience increased longevity. Supporting elderly individuals to live independently, maintaining their social relationships, and encouraging healthy lifestyle behaviors are key to achieving an active and successful aging process.

Life satisfaction is considered one of the most significant factors influencing mental health and determining adaptation during all stages of life, particularly in old age. As an indicator of well-being, life satisfaction has a positive correlation with psychological resilience and mental health. Thus, psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and mental health of elderly individuals are interconnected, and interventions aimed at enhancing well-being and life satisfaction are known to positively affect the mental health of older adults.

In this context, laughter therapy has recently gained attention as an approach with observed positive effects on the physical and mental health of elderly individuals. Laughter therapy, developed by Dr. Madan Kataria in 1995, aims to support physical and mental health through laughter and breathing exercises.

Meta-analyses and systematic reviews indicate that laughter therapy has positive psychosocial effects on older adults, including reducing depression, perceived stress, and anxiety, enhancing psychological well-being, regulating blood pressure and cortisol levels, improving sleep and quality of life, reducing death anxiety, loneliness, and depressive tendencies, and increasing happiness, life satisfaction, and mood. Laughter therapy is considered a non-invasive, non-pharmacological, cost-effective, accessible, and easy-to-apply complementary/alternative therapy, with calls for further evidence-based studies to promote its use.

Within this framework, the aim of this research is to determine the effect of laughter therapy on the psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and mental health of elderly individuals.

Enrollment: 69 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 65 to 105 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Being over the age of 65
• Scoring ≥ 18 points on the Mini-Mental Examination
• Having the ability to communicate
• Not having participated in a laughter therapy session before

Exclusion criteria

• Having severe hearing or perception impairment that hinders communication
• Having a physical or psychological condition that prevents participation in therapy
• Having moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease, uncontrolled hypertension, epilepsy, abdominal surgery within the past 3 months, or a surgical procedure with a risk of bleeding
• Choosing not to continue participating in the study

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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69 participants in 2 patient groups

Laughter therapy group

Experimental group

Description:

Pre-tests were collected 10 days before the therapy began. The elderly participants were introduced individually and informed face-to-face about laughter therapy. Therapy sessions were conducted face-to-face twice a week, with a total of 12 sessions. Each laughter therapy session lasted 50 minutes. Post-tests were collected immediately after the final therapy session. Four weeks later, follow-up tests were also conducted face-to-face.

Treatment:

Other: Laughter therapy

No intervention group

No Intervention group

Description:

The control group did not receive laughter therapy; they continued with routine nursing home care. Pre-tests, post-tests, and follow-up tests were collected on the same days as the experimental group. After the follow-up tests were completed, a 30-minute laughter therapy session was provided to control group participants who wished to participate.