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Journal of Demography

Abstract

The objectives of this research were:(a)to study the current situation of mental health promotion for the aging population of Loei Province, (b)to develop activities to promote the mental health of that population using the public participation approach, and (c) to assess the mental health condition of the aging population in that province after the elderly peoples'participation in the proposed health promotion activities. The methodology of participatory action research (PAR) used in the study comprised focus group discussions, a group brainstorming meeting, in-depth interviews and participatory observation. The target group included aging persons in the community who were capable of good interaction and being able to participate in the proposed activities. The group comprised the leader of the community, public health volunteers, and officers from the Municipality and nurses who were responsible for a total of 50 elderly persons. The results showed that the current situation of mental health promotion for the aging population in the village studied still did have any mental health promotion model for the development of the aging population.Actually, there were some activities in which people of any age could participate, such as exercising, but those activities had been stopped because there were not enough participants and no clear planned activities. Such activities were carried out according to the budget received from the Municipality and stopped when the budget ran out. The results of developing activities could be shown in six activities: group meetings on Buddhist observance day, visits to nine temples for worshiping the Buddha, Bun Sum Ha activities, New Year's party, study visits, and activities on National Elderly Day (Songkran). All the formulated models were implemented for six months.The assessment of mental health condition of the aging population in Loei Province after their participation in the proposed health promotion activities found that most of them were generally at the average level (38%) in terms of their mental health condition.The assessment also found that the happiness points of the aging population were at 33 at the lowest level and at 54 at the highest. Their highest point was higher than that of the general standard of psychologically healthy Thais, which is between 27.0 and 32.0 points. The findings of this research show that the aging population who participated in the proposed health promotion activities were happier than others in the general population.

DOI

10.56808/2730-3934.1319

First Page

51

Last Page

66

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