Development of a Monk-Led Elderly Mental Health Counseling Program in Thai Buddhist Communities

Abstract

The increasing mental health challenges among elders demand specialized interventions, especially within Thai communities where resources are limited and stigma persists. While monks offer spiritual support, there is a gap in addressing complex mental health needs. This research aims to develop a monk-led elderly mental health counseling program in Thai Buddhist communities. From January 2023 to March 2024, this study underwent four phases. Initially, qualitative interviews with thirty-six monk and elder participants elucidated requirements. The program development integrated findings from the requirement study, the Solution-Focused Brief Therapy process, and Buddhist mindfulness principles to create a prototype. The quality assessment involved expert content validation, feasibility examination by stakeholders, and a small-scale pilot testing with five monks. Finally, the feasibility of the program was assessed with thirty-two monks. The study reveals three key components of the monk-led elderly counseling program focused on mental health: the counseling process known as MPS-MAV-PI (an Introduction to Mindfulness, Identifying Problems, Assessing the Severity, Mindfully Observing Thoughts and Emotions, Acceptance, Visualizing Success, Planning Strategies for Problem-solving, and Implementation and Subsequent Monitoring), the C-TIME strategy (Collaboration, Training Manual, Implementation, the Monitoring, and Evaluation), and the program manual. Moreover, feasibility assessments among monks show the high feasibility of the program for implementation. The monk-led counseling program holds promise in addressing these challenges, with high feasibility indicating potential effectiveness and scalability. Future research will prioritize evaluating its cost-effectiveness and overall effectiveness.