A study to assess the effectiveness of laughter therapy in reduction of stress among the elderly people at selected old age home at Chennai

Stress is defined as the physiological or psychological tension that - to the disturbances in physical, emotional and psychological well-being of the elderly people .If the stress is not treated initially, it may lead to many complications like depression, suicide etc. Laughter therapy aims to get people laughing in both group and individual sessions and can help to reduce stress, make people happier and more committed, as well as improve their interpersonal skills. TITLE This study is aimed to assess the effectiveness of laughter therapy in reduction of stress among the elderly people at selected old age home at Chennai .The research design used was pre experimental one group pretest and posttest design. METHODS The sample was selected by non-probability convenient sampling technique (n=60) and pre-existing level of stress among the elderly were assessed by structured questionnaire. After pre-test, laughter therapy was practiced with elderly people. On the 14th day post-test was done by using the same questionnaire. After 4 weeks of laughter therapy, the levels of stress among the elderly people were analyzed by student RESULTS The results on post- test showed significant reduction of stress (p= 0.001) in score. The overall pre-test stress score among elderly people was 62.6% whereas in post-test it was 29.9%. So the significance difference between pre-test and post- test stress score is 32.6%. CONCLUSION The above finding revealed that laughter therapy was effective and helped the elderly people to reduce their stress level