MENTAL HEALTH STATUS AND SELF-CARE BEHAVIORS REGARDING MENTAL HEALTH OF ELDERLY PERSONS IN MUANG DISTRICT, NONTHABURI PROVINCE, THAILAND

Abstract

The purposes of this descriptive research were to study mental health status and self-care behaviors regarding mental health of elderly persons in Muang district, Nonthaburi province, Thailand. The sample consisted of 380 elderly persons. The research instruments included: 1) Personal Information, 2) Thai Mental Health Indicator–15 version 2007 (TMHI–15), and 3) Self-Care Behaviors Regarding Mental Health. The internal consistency reliabilities of Thai Mental Health Indicator–15 version 2007 (TMHI–15) and Self-Care Behaviors Regarding Mental Health were examined by Cronbach’s alpha coefficients being 0.81 and 0.72, respectively. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics.

The results revealed that the elderly persons had better than average mental health (36.8%), average mental health (46.8%) and below average mental health (16.3%). For self-care behaviors regarding mental health, most elderly persons had often done following the news such as reading newspapers, watching TV or listening to the radio (61.1%); joining groups or club activities (58.2%); religious activities (46.1%); exercises (43.9%) and recreation activities (43.4%), respectively.

It can be seen that the findings had given useful necessary data for developing health care plans and implementing mental health promotion activities for the elderly persons to promote their capacities in providing self-care regarding mental health and improving their quality of lives.