The study was done to identify factors influencing the sleep of elderly women.

Data were collected by questionnaires from 203 elderly women in Seoul and Gyeong-gi province. Measures were physical health state, family support, life satisfaction, sleep, depression, and quality of life. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients, t-test, ANOVA, and stepwise multiple regression with SPSS/WIN 13.0 version.

The mean score for sleep for elderly women was 39.04. Sleep for elderly women according to religion, education level, spouses, and monthly income showed significant differences. Sleep for elderly women showed significantly positive correlations to physical health state, family support, life satisfaction, and quality of life. The significant factors influencing sleep of elderly women were physical health state, family support, depression, and quality of life, which explained about 70.4% of the variance. The strongest factors influencing the sleep was physical health state.

The results suggest that in developing nursing interventions and practice for sleep pattern of elderly women spouses and family support should be considered.

This study examined the effects of individual reminiscence therapy on older adults' depression, morale, and the quality of life.

The design was a single-group pre-test and post-test study. Subjects consisted of 31 older adults from two senior centers and a welfare center in Seoul. Individual reminiscence therapy was applied to study subjects four times, once a week for an hour at each time. Measurement tools were the Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form Korea (GDSSF-K) for depression, Mun Ae-ri's (1996) scale for morale, and Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 (SF-36) for the quality of life. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t-test, and pearson correlation.

The application of individual reminiscence therapy reduced older adults' depression (t=-5.65, p=.000), and enhanced older adults' morale (t=4.65, p=.000). The application of individual reminiscence therapy improved older adults' quality of life (t=5.00, p=.000).

Findings of the study suggest that individual reminiscence therapy may be applied as a nursing intervention that contributesto the improvement of older adults' quality of life, reduces their depression, and enhances their morale.