Comparison of intergenerational interaction programs and physical activities on the depression rate of elderly women and men

Introduction: The increase in life expectancy in today's era and the growing trend of the elderly population requires more and more attention to the psychological dimension of the life of the elderly as a large part of the population, so the present study aims to investigate the effect of intergenerational programs on the amount of The depression of elderly residents of Mashhad city was implemented.. Method: The present research is applied in terms of its purpose and field implementation method. The statistical population included elderly people 60 years old and older living in Mashhad in 2018. Using Cochran's sampling method, the sample size of 378 people was determined by cluster sampling. Demographic profile questionnaires, socio-economic status questionnaires (Garmaroudi and Moradi) and Yesavij depression questionnaire (GDS-15) were used to collect data. Multivariate analysis of variance or MANOVA was used to determine the interactive effect of demographic variables and groups as independent variables on the mean of dependent variables. And finally, Benferroni's post hoc test was used to show the difference between the groups. SPSS version 25 software was used to analyze the results and the probability value was α=0.05. Findings: The results showed that there was a significant difference in the level of depression between the groups. No significant difference was found in the comparison between the two sexes (P=0.135). But in the pre-test-post-test stages, it shows a significant difference in the results of depression after applying the independent variables (P=0.001). The difference between the mean of the nursing home group and the exercise group in Mellat Park was shown to be significant using Tukey's post hoc test (P=0.013). Conclusion: The present study showed that social activities and the presence of the elderly among the youth had an effective role in reducing the symptoms of depression. The intergenerational interaction program aimed at increasing social skills and reducing the isolation of the elderly led to an increase in self-confidence and a decrease in self-satisfaction.