The Effects of Therapeutic Activities on Depression in the Long-Term Care Population

Therapeutic activities are activities that encourage social interaction and promote cognitive skills. When these activities are put on hold for an extended period of time it can be detrimental to the Long-Term Care population. Depression related to social isolation has plagued the LongTerm Care population since the onset of COVID, causing increased sickness and in some situations death. The purpose of this integrative review is to determine the effectiveness of therapeutic activities in decreasing depression in the Long-Term Care (LTC) population. Literature was collected from 2018 through 2023 from the CINAHL database and analyzed using the PRISMA model. A total of 27 articles whew included after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. A focus was on increasing knowledge of the negative effects when facilities put therapeutic activities on hold. The findings from this review suggest therapeutic activities can improve depression through social interactions and the provision of cognitive skills. Researchers should investigate these phenomena with a more in-depth approach, such as how stopping and starting therapeutic activities affect the LTC population related to depression. With pandemics and policies affecting the way therapeutic activities are carried out in the LTC setting, more research is needed to improve the criteria that support continuing therapeutic activities with social distancing