The Effectiveness of Drama Therapy on Happiness and Life Expectancy of Older Women Living in Nursing Homes

The older adults are subject to loneliness and isolation, and due to physical and mental disabilities, their individual independence is threatened in many cases. The set of these conditions leads to a decrease in the quality of life and ultimately to a decrease in happiness and life expectancy in older adults. As a result, this study aimed to determine the effectiveness of drama therapy on increasing the happiness and life expectancy of older women. This was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population included all older women residing in nursing homes in Qom, Iran in 2023, among whom 30 people (65 to 80 years old) were selected using convenience sampling method and with regarded to the inclusion criteria, and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. The experimental group received eight 90-minute sessions of drama therapy and the control group did not receive any training. The content of the sessions was derived from Moreno's perspective on drama therapy. Participants responsed the Oxford happiness questionnaire and Snyder’s life expectancy test. The data were analyzed using univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS-26 software. The results showed that drama therapy led to a significant increase in happiness and life expectancy in the experimental group (P<.01). Based on the results, it is recommended that counselors and psychologists of nursing homes take advantages of drama therapy along with other methods to improve happiness and life expectancy in older adults.