A Systematic Review of Interventions for Depression in the Elderly

This study is to analyze the characteristics and contents of depression interventions to improve depression in the elderly, and to provide useful basic data for developing interventions to improve depression in the elderly in the future. This study conducted a systematic literature review to analyze and integrate the results of depression intervention studies conducted on the elderly in the domestic nursing field since 2010. For depression interventions applied to the elderly, less than 10 sessions were 21 sessions, weekly sessions were 18 sessions, and activity time per session was 60 minutes (14 sessions). The most frequently used depression measurement tool was the Korean version of the GDSSF-K, which was modified and supplemented to suit Korea. Based on the results of this study, if a depression intervention program is developed by integrating laughter therapy and other interventions, which are suggested to be most effective for the elderly, it will help reduce the suicide rate and improve the quality of life of the elderly.