Abstract:
Mental problems that were often found in the elderly were stress, depression, and anxiety. Especially in the current situation, during the COVID 19 pandemic caused by the death of a family member due to the corona virus, job loss due to job termination which caused the economy to decline, so therapy was needed to overcome depression, one of which was brain exercise. This study aimed to determine the effect of giving brain exercise therapy on changes in depression in the elderly during the COVID 19 pandemic. The design of this study used a one group pretest-post test design. The population in this study was all the elderly living in Sugihan Hamlet, Karangasem Village, RT.003 RW.002, Kutorejo District, Mojokerto Regency, as manu as 50 people. The sampling technique of this research was purposive sampling so that the research sample was 15 people. The research instrument used brain exercise Standard of Operational Procedure and Geriatric Depression Scale. Data analysis used Wilcoxon test. The results of this study indicate that most respondents experienced mild depression before being given brain exercise intervention, as many as 11 people (73.3%), and after being given brain exercise intervention, almost all respondents experienced mild depression, as many as 13 people (86.7%). The results of the Wilcoxon test were interpreted as value = 0.014, so H0 was rejected and H1 was accepted, meaning that there was an effect of brain exercise on changes in the level of depression in the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic in the elderly. Movements from Brain exercise will relax the brain, improve breathing, stamina, release tension, reduce and fatigue and help release the inhibition of focus from the brain.
