Abstract: Objective   To explore the effect of special enrichment on the elderly with depression at nursing homes. Methods  Seventyfour hospitalized elderly over 60 years, who conformed to the rating standard of the simple version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS15)  and met the admission criteria were randomly divided into special enriched environment group (36 cases) and traditional enriched environment group (38 cases).The traditional enriched environment group trained once a day for 1 hour,  5 days a week for 12 weeks.On the basis of traditional enriched environment training,  the special enriched environment group emphasized the importance of interesting,  individualized and active participation in the training content,  once a day for 1 hour,  5 days a week for 12 weeks.The followup was evaluated 1 week before treatment,  4 weeks,  12 weeks and 3 months after treatment.Results   After 12 weeks of intervention,  QOLI score of the special enriched environment group was improved compared with before treatment (P<0.05); GDS15 score of the short version of the international general depression scale for the aged was improved compared with before intervention (P<0.05); after 4 weeks of intervention,  the special enriched circle was improved compared with before intervention (P<0.05). After 12 weeks and 3 months of treatment,  GDS15 score in special enriched environment group improved significantly compared with traditional enriched environment group (P<0.05).QOLI scores were different from those of  traditional enriched environment group (P<0.05).Conclusion   The special rich environment can effectively improve the depressive state of longterm hospitalized elderly,  and quality of life.

Key words: depression , disorder; , environment; , hospitalization; , quality of life; , elderly