Influence of recreational activities in the depression levels of elderly who lives in long-term care institutions

The depression has a high incidence among the elderly. This pathology predisposes to other diseases and difficulties in treating them. The eld erly have available time for recreational activitie s in long-term care institutions (LTCI). Considering tha t recreational activities may interfere with their wellness it's important to research such hypotheses . The purpose of the present study was investigate whether the recreational activities interfer with d epression symptoms of elderly who lives in LTCI and to examine the professionals' perception of LTCI on th e benefits and disadvantages of these experiences. Participated in this study 15 older adults (73.30±1 1.57 years old) who was living in a LTCI of Ipating a city, Brazil, and 11 employees (42,61±13,67 years o ld) who have worked in this same LTCI. The recreational opportunities of the elderly have been extended: created a playroom, a virtual room and w ere held 10 sessions of recreational activities and sti mulus to leisure experiences. For analysis of the c hanges in symptoms of depression, the elderly answered the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) before and after the intervention period. Semi-structured interviews were used to investigate the subjective perception of employees. Statistical analysis included Shapiro Wi lk test and Student t-Test ( �=5%). There was a difference (p=0.014) of 1.47 points in the GDS that decreased from 6.27±2.87 to 4.80±2.57 points after the intervention. None of the employees perceived negat ive aspects in the proposed activities, they observ ed only benefits such as increased happiness, reduced aggressiveness, the spontaneous practice by elderly who didn't leave the room. The recreational activit ies seem to have contributed to the reduction of symptoms of depression in the elderly. The professi onals perceived improving the elderly mood after th ese experiences without disadvantages. Thus the increas e of leisure opportunities in the LTCI may be an ea sy and low cost strategy to improve the wellness and q uality of life for older adults.