Humour and the older adult: implications for nursing

This correlational descriptive study examined the relationship between the uses of humour and health outcomes as measured by perceived health, life satisfaction, and morale in older adults. The sample of this pilot study consisted of 24 volunteers from a senior citizen community centre who are ambulatory adults over 61 years old. Subjects were administered questionnaires which consisted of a demographic data sheet, the Situational Humour Response Questionnaire, Coping Humour Scale, Current Health Subscale, Life Satisfaction Index, and the Affect Balance Scale. The findings revealed significant (P less than 0.05) positive relationships between situational humour and perceived health (r = 0.43), and situational humour and morale (r = 0.38). Furthermore, there was a significant negative relationship between coping humour and perceived health (r = -0.46). These findings suggest that humour may be one phenomenon which influences the older adult's perception of perceived health, life satisfaction and morale and may assist in successful ageing. These preliminary findings support the need for further research to examine these relationships with a larger study.