A Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Guided Imagery Technique on Stress among the Elderly People Residing at Selected Old Age Homes, Lucknow

Background: According to Mental Health. gov (2010), Human development is the process of growth and change that takes place between birth and maturity. There are some stages of human development which includes infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age. Mental health is important at every stage of human life. It includes our emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel and act. It also helps to determine how we handle problems, relate to others and make choices. Mental health is also a level of psychological wellbeing or an absence of a mental disorder. It is a psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment. It includes an individual`s ability to enjoy life, and create a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience. Objectives: The study was conducted with the objectives to assess the level of stress among the elderly people in selected old age home, to evaluate the effectiveness of guided imagery technique on stress among elderly people at selected old age home and to associate the level of stress of the elderly people with the selected demographic variables. Method: The researcher used a pre experimental one group pretest posttest design. The researcher approach was quantitative evaluative approach. The study was conducted in Aastha Health Resort Lucknow.40 samples were selected by using Non - probability convenience sampling technique. The data was collected by using structured questionnaire before and after administration of guided imagery technique. Results: The findings of this study shows that, there was significant reduction in stress level among elderly after administration of guided imagery technique. The mean in the pretest and posttest was 57.475 ?8.430 and 11 ?4 respectively. The mean difference was 46.475. The paired ?t? test value was 46.26 which was significantly higher than the table value 2.02 at p?0.05. Hence it was evidenced that guided imagery technique was more effective in terms of reducing stress among elderly. Interpretation and Conclusion: The overall findings of the study clearly shows that the guided imagery technique was significantly effective in reducing stress among elderly.