Evaluation on the effect of allied health intervention on the elderly in nursing home

Abstract:

Objective：To explore the role of allied health intervention in improving the life quality of the elderly in nursing home. Methods：The 82 elderly were selected through convenience sampling from two nursing homes and allied health intervention was im－plemented. The Mos 36-item short form health survey（SF-36） and the mini nutritional assessment（MNA） were applied to evaluate the life quality at one week and three months after the check in. Results：After three months，the total mean score and eight dimensional scores of SF-36 were improved significantly and there were statistical differences in the scores of the SF-36（P=0.000） but no statis－tical difference in the scores of MNA between one week and three months（P >0.05）. There were positive correlation between the total mean score and eight dimensional scores of SF-36 and MNA score（the total mean score rs=0.684，physical functioning rs=0.643，role physical rs=0.439，bodily pain rs=0.551，general health rs=0.602，vitality rs=0.532，social functioning rs=0.478，role-emotional rs=0.333，mental health rs=0.396. Conclusion：Quality of life of the elderly in the nursing home can be effectively improved through the allied health intervention.