A STUDY TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LAUGHTER THERAPY ON PROMOTION OF MENTAL HEALTH AMONG OLD AGE PEOPLE RESIDING AT SELECTED OLD AGE HOME,COIMBATORE
Authors: G Ms. Vijayalakshmi 
Published: June 2024

Back Ground of the Study: Laughter therapy is the best remedy for stress. Not only does it help you cope with stress, but it also helps to strengthen your immune system and improves your overall stress-related health. Doing laughter every day will soon become a habit and it will reward you for the effort. Just as a king keeps control of his kingdom, so can we keep control of the vast territory of our mind. Humours and laughter therapy will lighten the load and help you bond with others. There are 15% of people over 65 with mental health problems in the general population, 25% in general practice and more than 30% in residential homes. Aging is a universal process that affects every human being on earth at various stages of their life. Physical, hormonal, psychological and social factors important in aging . Aim of study is to evaluate the efficacy of laughter therapy in promoting mental health among the elderly. Objectives of the study: The objectives of the study are: • To assess the level of mental health among old age people • To evaluate the effectiveness of laughter therapy on promotion of mental health among old age people • To find out the association between the post-test level of mental health with their selected demographic variables. Hypothesis • H1: There will be significant difference between the pre-test and post-test level of mental health among old age people. • H2: There will be a significant association between the post-test level of Mental Health with their selected demographic variables. Method: The study design is pre-experimental one group pre-test and after-experimental post-test. Setting is St. Joseph old age home, Coimbatore. Sample size is 50 old age individuals. There are 13 items in Tool-1demography proforma and 28 items in section-B standardised general health questionnaire. The tool is verified the experts . The confidential error of this tool is verified by using the split half technique. The value of this tool is 0.7. The collected data is analysed by both inferential method and descriptive statistical method. Evaluation of the efficacy of laughter therapy is done by using the paired 't' test Results: The pre test results showed that out of 50 respondents, 26 (52%) had good mental health, 24 (48%) had poor mental health, and none (0) had good mental health. The post test result showed that 36 (72%) of respondents had good mental health; 14 (28%) had satisfactory mental health; and none had poor mental health (0) The mean mental health score of the respondents before the intervention was 54 (54.82) and the mean mental health score after the intervention was 84 (84.40). The difference in mental health level was 0.5 (0.5). The post-intervention mental health level was higher than the pre-intervention level, indicating the effectiveness of the laughter therapy. The comparison of pre-intervention and post-intervention old age people' mental health score showed that t = 24.2. The research hypothesis (H1) is accepted and null hypotheses are rejected. The analysis showed a significant relationship between the post-intervention and socio-demographic variables, such as religion and marital status. The obtained value was less that the table value at 0.05 level of significance. So the research hypothesis (H2) is accepted and the null hypothesis is rejected. Interpretation and Conclusion: It can be inferred that the Mental Health level of old age people were poor during the pre-test and was increased after the administration of Laughter therapy. It is found that the Mental Health Level score were considerably more in the post-test itself.