Community Health Advocacy Project Part Four Essay - 1

Community Health Advocacy Project Part Four - Essay Example The most prominent causes of depression in the elderly include lack of physical activity, lower self esteem and reduction in social activity. According to psychology people who exercise properly on a daily basis are less likely to contract various diseases whereas those people who manage to maintain an appropriate level of self esteem and keep on working hard towards attaining their professional and personal goals can avoid the possibility of depression because of their healthy lifestyle (Livingston, Blizard, & Mann, 1993). The nursing and other medical staff can help older patients in fighting depression by motivating them to maintain the habit of walking. Moreover, the medical staff should also promote the habit of reading in the patients because it is believed that books can help humans in recovering from diseases. The books are helpful regarding fighting depression because they provide patients with an opportunity to shift focus from the disease and thus they experience less psychological burden (Schulz, Drayer, & Rollman, 2002). Yee, the family and friends can also play a significant role in eliminating depression and hopelessness in the elderly because old people are found to be considering their children and family as true sources of motivation. More especially elders tend to extract happiness from educational and professional achievements of the children. Therefore it is suggested that families should maintain close contact with elders in order to prolong their life span. Yes, retirement can also be taken as an active cause of depression because it forces elders to think that they are not of any use to the society anymore. But it is the responsibility of the society to keep retirees busy in healthy activities like gardening. The elders should also be encouraged towards joining social clubs so that they can have sufficient social activity as