The Effect of TCM Foot Bath on Psychological Distress among Elderlies

The purpose of this study was to explore effects of traditional Chinese medicine foot bath on psychological distress among elderlies living in nursing. This study utilized the quasi-experimental design and involved 40 respondents. The treatment group was exposed to the traditional Chinese medicine foot bath the comparison group was exposed to the plain water foot bath as nursing intervention. The findings of this study indicate that both traditional Chinese foot bath and plain water foot bath are effective interventions to improve the level of psychological distress among elderlies but the traditional Chinese medicine foot bath is better than plain water foot bath in decreasing the level of psychological distress among elderlies. Findings of this study encourage those suffering from psychological distress to take traditional Chinese medicine foot bath as part of their daily health care to reduce their level of psychological distress which may promote a healthy aging and quality of life in later years.