Social Activity and Effects on Depression in the Elderly: A Systemized Review of the Lived Experiences of Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Background of Social Activity and Effects on Depression in the Elderly: A Systemized Review of the Lived Experiences of Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Studies indicate that cases of depression among the elderly have been on the rise in recent years. Depression is caused by isolation which in turn affects mental health adversely. However, social activity helps address the issue of isolation among the elderly. Social activities such as dancing increase one’s confidence to face problems. Moreover, social activities increase an individual’s self-worth because one can interact with other people who have more serious issues. This study is a systematic review of the qualitative literature on the association of social activities and effects of depression in the elderly. The paper also focuses on the type of social activities that help manage depression in the elderly persons.

Methods
The article, “Effects of creative and social activity on the health and well-being of socially isolated older people: outcomes from a multi-method observational study” used qualitative methods to collect data. It involved focused group discussions, observation, questionnaires and semi-structured individual interviews. The data collected included the age, financial position, long-standing illness and gender of the participants (Greaves and Farbus, 2006 p. 137). The participants included individuals above the age of fifty whose lives might have changed after retirement. Collected data was then analyzed to determine the common problems.

The article, “A qualitative study on the types and purposes of social activities in late life” used interviews on the elderly individuals who lived in Allegheny County, USA. The purposive sampling strategy was used when recruiting the samples (Flatt et al., 2015 p. 111).Open-ended and semi-structured interviews were also used to inspire participants to share their personal experiences and the purpose of social activities in their lives.
The article, “Social dancing and older adults: Playground for physical activity” mainly used observation to understand the phenomena of dancing and its importance to the elderly. Questionnaires and focused group discussions were also used in obtaining data (Roberson and Pelclova, 2014 p. 133).
Results
The first article showed the importance of involving the older people in social activities to improve their physical and psychological well-being. The results of the study showed that social activities help reduce depression by improving the cognitive awareness. The study also showed that those social activities are useful because they improve the SF12 mental constituent and the depression scores after six months (Greaves and Farbus, 2006 p. 136). The results of the study indicated that there is a wide range of responses from social activities including increased, self-worth, alertness, social activity, and positivity about life.
Results of the second article showed that social activities increase relaxation, enjoyment, stimulation. The social activities are necessary because they improve the cognitive health thus reducing incidences of depression. The kinds of social activities included altruism, motion, game, and creativity (Flatt et al., 2015 p. 113).
In the third article, the author highlights that dancing provides an opportunity to interact with other people and live an active life. It provides a chance to the older adults to engage in affirming situations such as the use of cosmetics, meeting friends, singing and meeting a prospective partner (Roberson and Pelclova, 2014 p. 132). These activities promote a healthy living because one can be able to share their problems with other individuals thus avoid depression.
Discussion
The qualitative data from the three studies indicated that social activities help in the prevention of depression through Different social activities such as motion, altruism, creativity, dancing, and gaming can help reduce stress among the elderly. These activities create relaxation, belongingness, stimulation, and relaxation thus manage stressful situations and depression.
Conclusion
These articles recognize the need to conduct more studies to investigate whether engagement in a diversity of social activities can be necessary for the cognitive health of older adults. Furthermore, the articles are effective because they are mainly inductive and focus on a small sample of the older adults. Thus, accurate results are obtained from the three studies.
References
Flatt, J.D., Hughes, T.F., Documét, P.I., Lingler, J.H., Trauth, J.M. and Albert, S.M., 2015. A qualitative study on the types and purposes of social activities in late life. Activities, adaptation & aging, 39(2), pp. 109-132.
Greaves, C.J., and Farbus, L., 2006. Effects of creative and social activity on the health and well-being of socially isolated older people: outcomes from a multi-method observational study. The journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, 126(3), pp. 134-142.
Roberson Jr, D.N., and Pelclova, J., 2014. Social dancing and older adults: playground for physical activity. Ageing International, 39(2), pp. 124-143.