The Effect of Progressive Relaxation Exercise on Adaptation to Old Age and Quality of Life.
Condition: Older People
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The changes and limitations that occur in the aging process effect people's adaptation toold
      age. The quality of life of elderly individuals who have problems in adaptation to aging is
      negatively affected. This study aimed to assess the effect of effects of Progressive Muscle
      Relaxation on the adaptation levels and quality of life of the elderly living in nursing
      homes.
    

Detailed description: 
      Today, changes and developments in technology and lifestyles have lengthened average life
      span and increased the elderly population. The physical and cognitive changes, health
      problems, new roles such asbeing retired or widowed and economic losses come one after
      anotherfor the elderly, and this turns the old age into a period full of difficul-ties. The
      difficulties experienced in this period introduce problems re-lated to the adaptation of the
      elderly to old age. The union of the problems arising due to old age decreases the
      self-respect and life satisfaction of the elderly individual, and consequently, the quality
      of life can be negatively affected.

      Adaptation is defined as the harmony built by an individual between his own needs and the
      expectations of the people around.It is important for people to adapt to ever-changing life
      events sothat they can lead happy lives.The first condition of a healthy and problem-free old
      age is to accept and adapt to old age.Therefore, the purposes of nursing care cover ensuring
      an individual's adaptation toold age and its changes, which is the last development phase of
      life.

      Nurses can positively change people's adaptation to old age by applying simple andeconomic
      non-pharmacological methods that are easy to apply. The non-pharmacological methods used in
      this study for older people'sw included progressive muscle relaxation exercise. It is stated
      in the literature that progressive relaxation exercise increases the quality of life and
      satisfaction of elderly individuals. However, there was no study thatassessed the effect of
      progressive muscle relaxation exercise on adaptation to old age.

      Objective: Evaluate the effects of progressive muscle relaxation on the adaptation levels
      older people's and quality of life of the elderly living in nursing homes.

      Methodology: This is randomized clinical test. The sample was made up of 45 older people
      living in nursing homes (24 in control group and 21 in the experimental group). The
      progressive muscle relaxation technique was employed. In order to collect the data, we
      adopted the interview with form filling technique, using the introductory information form,
      Assessment Scale of Adaptation Difficulty for the Elderly (ASADE) and Nottingham Health
      Profile (NHP)". Blood pressure and heart rate of experimental group were measured before and
      after the progressive muscle relaxation intervention.
    

Intervention name(s): Progressive muscle relaxation exercise
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): The CD on relaxation exercises developed by the Turkish Psy-chological Associationwas used.In the second of CD 27-min section; relaxation exercises are explained to the accompaniment ofrunning water sounds and verbal instructions. Progressive relaxation technique includes stretching and relaxing the bigmuscle groups (hands, arms, neck, shoulders, face, chest, abdomen,hip, feet andfingers) in the human body on purpose. When steps ofProgressive Relaxation Exercises are analyzed, it is observed thatlearning how to take correct and deep breaths is the most impor-tant step towards learning relaxation. In addition, taking correct breaths is used as a part of the exercise among all relaxation exercises.Steps of Progressive Relaxation Exercise:- breathing exercises- lower extremity exercises- upper extremity exercises- exercise of respiratory muscles. Elderly individuals will receive PMR exercise twice a week under the guidance of an investigator for eight weeks.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Supportive Care
Keywords: Older people; Adaptation; Life quality; Nursing home