The Effect of Group Movie Therapy on the Activities of Daily Living Among the Older Adults

The daily living activities are among the essential components of life and reflect an important aspect of functional independence in older adults. This study aimed to determine the effect of Group Movie Therapy (GMT) on the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) in older adults.

A randomized clinical trial was conducted on 48 older adults referred to Urban Comprehensive Health Service Centers of Kashan City, Iran. The study subjects were enrolled by a convenience sampling method and were randomly assigned to the intervention (n=24) and control (n=24) groups. GMT was performed in 6 weekly sessions. The Lawton’s ADL Scale was used for data collection. The obtained data were analyzed by the Chi-Squared test, Fisher’s Exact test, and Independent Samples t-test using SPSS. 

There was no significant difference in the mean scores of Basic Activities of Daily Living (BADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) before the intervention between the study groups. A significant difference was found in the mean scores of IADL after the intervention between the study groups (P=0.001); however, there was no significant difference in the BADL values of the groups after the intervention. 

GMT is a non-invasive, low-cost, and non-risky way to improve the elderly’s autonomy in performing IADL. Thus, GMT is recommended as a method of behavior therapy.