The Effect of Music Therapy on Self-Esteem and Meaning of Life in the Elderly

Increasing the elderly population in the 21st century one of the best ways to improve the life of the elderly and increase their ability and reduce their dependence on drugs and treatments that impose a significant cost on them is music therapy. The present study was conducted with the aim of the effect of music therapy on self-esteem and meaning of life in 60 elderly people up to 80 years old in Tehran.

A quasi-experimental research method was used with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all elderly people aged 60 to 80 years living in a nursing home. By purposive sampling method, 22 people were selected in two groups (11 in the experimental group and 11 in the control group). The experimental group received ten sessions of 45 minutes of music therapy intervention. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale Questionnaire (1965) and the Meaning of Life Questionnaire (Estger, 2010) were used to collect data.

Studies showed that music therapy has a significant effect on the self-esteem of the elderly (p /0 0.05) and on the meaning of life in the elderly (p /0 0.05).

Therefore, based on the results obtained, nursing homes can use music and related interventions to increase self-esteem and the meaning of life of the elderly and thus improve their quality of life.