© 2021 Journal of Advanced Pharmacy Education & Research | Published by SPER Publication 40 The effect of brain GYM on the dementia and depression reduction of the elderly Surita Ginting 1 *, Afniwati 1 , Yufdel 1 1 Lecturers of Nursing Department, Health Polytechnic Ministry of Health, Medan, Indonesia. Correspondence: Surita Ginting, Lecturers of Nursing Department, Health Polytechnic Ministry of Health, Medan, Indonesia. surita_ginting @ yahoo.com ABSTRACT This study aims to determine the effect of brain gym on decreasing the level of dementia and depression in the elderly in the Health Center Community of Mulyorejo in Deli Serdang Regency. The population of this study was 5765 elderly people. The sampling technique uses the Slovin formula and it is determined through inclusion criteria using a purposive consecutive method so that the total sample of 30 respondents is divided into two groups, 15 respondents with dementia and 15 respondents with depression. A quasi-experimental pre-post test design was used, where a control group wasn’t used, then a pre-test is followed by intervention in each group and at the end a post-test in each group was conducted. Data analysis used the Wilcoxon test due to the unusual distribution of the data. The results of the study on the dementia variable obtained p-value (p = 0.000 <0.05) and the depression variable value (p-value = 0.006 <0.05), so it can be concluded that the brain gym has an effect on decreasing the level of dementia and depression in the elderly. The use of brain gym can be one of the considerations in nursing intervention as a complementary therapy to reduce the level of dementia and depression in the elderly, and is expected to be carried out routinely during the activities of the elderly of each Posyandu (integrated health care center). Keywords: Brain Gym, Dementia, Depression, Elderly Introduction The elderly is a series of stages that must be passed by every human being. This stage is called the life cycle. The human life cycle starts from pregnancy, breastfeeding, infants, children, adolescents, adults, and elderly then death. So it can be said that the elderly are the final stage of the development of human life [1]. The development of the elderly population according to the estimations of the World Health Organization (WHO) will increase in 2025 compared to 1990 in some countries such as China 220%, India 242%, Thailand 337%, and Indonesia 440% [2]. Improved elderly health in Indonesia made the government to continue to strive improving the quality of health services that canlead an increase in life expectancy. As a result, the number of senior residents will continue to grow and there is a tendency to skyrocket faster. In North Sumatra Province the number of elderly has increased from 76,770 in 2010 to 79,400 in 2011, while in 2012 the number of elderly was 82,450 and in 2013 the number increased to 86,000 [3]. The increasing population of the elderly in Indonesia caused various health problems and diseases.One of the problems was a cognitive impairment which manifests acutely in the form of contusions and chronic in the form of dementia [4]. Dementia is the 4th leading cause of death after heart disease, cancer and stroke. Till today, there is an estimationthat the 30 million world population who experienced dementia for various reasons such as illness, trauma, drugs, and depression. According to Lumbantobing, (2016) there is the brain decreases of the the weight and the change of the human brain structure in the elderly and the estimation of worldwide elderly people experience dementia is increased [5]. Depression is a disorder or mental disorder characterized by depressed moods, loss of pleasure or interest, feeling guilty, sleep and eating disorders and decreased concentration. The Access this article online Website:www.japer.in E-ISSN: 2249-3379 How to cite this article: Ginting S, Afniwati A, Yufdel Y. The effect of brain GYM on the dementia and depression reduction of the elderly. J Adv Pharm Educ Res. 2021;11(2):40-44. https://doi.org/10.51847/Cj6189cIbl Original Article