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KMID : 0607320090180030269
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Journal of Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
2009 Volume.18 No. 3 p.269 ~ p.277
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The Influence of One-Time Laughter Therapy on Stress Response in the Elderly
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Kim Young-Sun
Jun Seong-Sook
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Abstract
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Purpose: This study was to evaluate the effects of a one-time laughter therapy in elderly and to suggest that the practice is an effective nursing intervention to reduce the stress and reinforce immunity in the elderly.
Methods: The research design was a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. Laughter therapy was used as the experimental treatment from September 6, 2005 until September 7, 2005. Forty-eight subjects in G city participated in this study. The 48 research subjects were assigned to an experimental (23 elderly) or control (25 elderly) group. Laughter therapy was administered one time for one day on the experimental group. In order to evaluate the effects of the laughter therapy, parameters of psychological stressful response(anxiety, depression, mood), physiologic stressful response (blood pressure, pulse, cortisol) and immunological stressful response (blood NK cell population, blood IgG) were measured before and after the treatment.
Results: There was a significant change in the level of mood, systolic blood pressure, and cortisol but not blood NK cell population, or blood IgG.
Conclusion: The results proved that laughter therapy is an effective nursing intervention to decrease systolic blood pressure, and cortisol levels and to increase mood.
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KEYWORD
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Laughter therapy, Stress response, Elderly
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