Geriatric Physiotherapy (GPT) on Feelings of Loneliness among Elderly – A Pilot Study

World Confederation of Physiotherapy (WCPT) declared that the theme of World Physiotherapy Day 2018 is Mental Health and Physiotherapy along with movement for health. World Federation for mental health projected world mental health day 2013 as “Mental health and older adults”. Ageing is a natural process, a person who attains 60 or 65and above is considered as elderly. When the elderly people are admitted in institutions, their relationship with family members and friends comes to an end and it creates relocation trauma. They feel as they are alone. This feeling of loneliness has strong relationship with depression. This sums up, creates limitation in functional activities and leads to the level of suicide. There are so many therapies viz. Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Mindfulness, Laughter therapy, Psychotherapy, Electroconvulsive treatment, Person Centered Therapy, Exercise therapy to reduce the feelings of loneliness. But, there is no gold standard treatment for feelings of loneliness among elderly. An intervention named “Geriatric Physiotherapy (GPT)” was considered and intended to augment both the physical and mental health of the elderly people. Therefore, this pilot study aims to find the effect of Geriatric Physiotherapy (GPT) on mental health and loneliness of institutionalized elderly. Ten elderly people were selected for the study from elderly homes at Mangalore.  General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) scale to assess mental health, and De-Jong Gierveld Loneliness scale to assess loneliness were used as assessment tools. Geriatric Physiotherapy (GPT) treatment was given after obtaining pre-test data. After 6months of treatment, post-test was taken. Statistical analysis was done and it was found that Geriatric Physiotherapy (GPT) has significant effect in reducing feelings of loneliness by improving strength and physical fitness, thereby improving mental health. Hence it may be recommended to use by physiotherapists, provides awareness to clinical psychologists and other health care providers for referral.