Grandma’s Mindful Moments – Thailand (IFMSA-Thailand)

Name of the activity: Grandma’s Mindful Moments

Country/NMO: Thailand (IFMSA-Thailand)

Program: Mental Health

Type of the activity: Capacity Building

General description:

Our project aimed in implimenting daily use of mindfulness practise throught Mindfulness-based Counselling and Therapy in order to prevent/delay development of depression and anxiety, thereby reducing case of dementia in the long term, and ultimatly minimizing potential burden for the nursing home, which allow for better quality of life for everyone oin the nursing home.

Focus area:

Integration of mental health within primary healthcare

Problem statement:

Nursing home residents are vulnerable to depression (Joseph et. al., 2017). Depression is also linked to dementia. When new case of dementia emerge more care are put on her, other elders early signs of depression may be overseen (Abram et. al., 1992) creating more cases and burden to the facility.

Target groups and beneficiaries:

The target group was 12 voluntary women in a private nursing home of 34 in Nakhon Nayok province. The intervention allow them to develop sense mindfulness training, which would decreased anxiety and depression to prevent dementia, thereby minimizing potential burden for the facility.

Objectives and indicators of success:

1. Explore context of the nursing home
– trust and collaboration from nursing home’s staffs
2. Survey the prevalence of depression
– the staff are aware of the elder’s mental health condition
3. Promote regular mindfulness practice
– supporting system from nursing home’s owner

Methodology:

This project aimed at implement Mindfulness-based Therapy and Counseling (MBTC) by Department of Mental Health. The intervention consisted of 8 weekly sessions on mindfulness techniques for the elders to be implemented throughout the week in their daily practises in the morning and the evening, as well as in their daily activities. Additionally as a part of MBTC, mindfulness signal had been installed to regularly reminded the elders of their state of mind.

Plans for evaluation:

This intervention was preliminary evaluated after the fourth session and finally evaluated after the eighth session via Thai Geriatric Depression Scale (TGDS), Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale: Awareness Scale (PHLMS), Stress Scale by the Department of Mental Health. Informal interviews to the elders and nursing home staffs were also conducted for qualitative data.