273. The influence of therapeutic health and wellness rural homestays on the anxiety and depression of the elderly

Abstract Background With the acceleration of the aging process of the population, anxiety and depression among the elderly have become increasingly prominent, becoming an important factor affecting their quality of life and health. Traditional intervention methods mostly rely on medication or outpatient psychological counseling. Although they have certain effects, the willingness of some elderly people to participate is low, and the intervention effect is limited. Healing-oriented health and wellness rural homestays integrate natural environments, local cultures, physical and mental activities, and psychological support. Through the transformation of living environments, natural contact, light labor, and social interaction, they provide the elderly with immersive and experiential emotional regulation scenarios. The study explored the alleviating effect of the therapeutic health and wellness rural homestay project on the anxiety and depression of the elderly, aiming to evaluate its intervention efficacy. Methods The study recruited 160 elderly people who were screened to have mild to moderate anxiety or depression symptoms in a certain urban community from October 2023 to March 2024 as the research subjects. They were divided into the experimental group (n = 80) and the control group (n = 80) by the random number table method. The control group maintained their original lifestyle and received regular health follow-ups and mental health promotion from the community. The experimental group participated in an 8-week, 3-day-per-week healing and health care rural homestay project. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) were used for assessment before the intervention, 4 weeks after the intervention, and 8 weeks after the intervention respectively, and the subjective feedback of the participants was collected. Throughout the entire analysis process, p.05). After 8 weeks of intervention, the average score of GDS in the experimental group decreased to (9.2 ± 3.5) points, and the average score of SAS decreased to (42.1 ± 6.8) points. The GDS score of the control group was (13.6 ± 4.1) points, and the SAS score was (48.7 ± 7.9) points. The decrease in the score of the experimental group was significantly greater than that of the control group (p