Effect of foot reflexology on the level of depression among older adults residing at old age home in West Bengal

Aim: To assess the effectiveness of foot reflexology on the level of depression among older adults residing at selected old age home, West Bengal. Background: Older people are a valuable resource for any society. When a person gets old, he inevitably needs more care and affection. Ageing is a natural phenomenon with opportunities and challenges faced more when they are residing at old age home. It is estimated that approximately 4 million older people have suffered moderate to severe mental health problems mainly depression. It has been reported that reflexology helps to improve physical as well as psychological well-being in older adults. Method: The data was collected from 100 older adults residing at old age home. Foot reflexology is the intervention given to the group for 30 minutes for 5 times a week for consecutive 4 weeks (first 1 week by the physiotherapist and remaining 3 weeks by the researcher). Pre-test and post-test was done using Geriatric Depression Scale before and on the 30th day of intervention respectively. Result: The findings revealedthat before the intervention, majority of the older adults had moderate level of depression whereas after the intervention (foot reflexology) most of the older adults had mild level of depression. This shows that foot reflexology was effective in reducing the level of depression among older adults at p<0.001 level of significance. Conclusion: Hence foot reflexology is effective in reducing the level of depression among older adults.