A meta-analysis on the effects of therapeutic recreation programs for the elderly

Abstract

This study gathered previous research on the effects of therapeutic recreation programs for the elderly conducted in Korea in order to investigate the average effect size as well as the factors that influence the effect sizes. This study connoted findings of individual studies related to therapeutic recreation programs for the elderly from 2000 to 2018. A total of 15 papers were selected for meta-analysis. To analyze the data, a comprehensive meta-analysis 2.0 software program was used. Firstly, the overall mean effect size of the therapeutic recreation programs for the elderly was 0.644, and it was medium size. Secondly, for each dependent variable, the mean effect size on social emotional domain was 0.739, the mean effect size on physical domain was 0.548, and the mean effect size on cognitive domain was 0.485. Thirdly, major factors that influence the effect of therapeutic recreation programs for the elderly appeared to be the program period and hours per session. The results of this study prove that therapeutic recreation programs for the elderly can be an effective way to bring along a positive change, and show that the program period and hours per session are crucial factors in the design of therapeutic recreation programs for the elderly.