The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of music therapy combined with hand manipulation on depression and cognition in elderly women with mild depression.

In order to investigate the effects of a music therapy program through hand, 20 elderly women with a GDS-K score of 14–18 were selected among women aged 65 to 84 living in Busan. The 10 subjects in the experimental group were given the music therapy program 3 times a week for 4 weeks, 12 sessions, and the 10 subjects in the control group were not given it. GDS-K and K-MoCA were performed before and after the experiment, and data analysis was performed through Wilcoxon’s test using the SPSS 24.0 statistical package program.

The music therapy program through hand manipulation is effective in reducing depression in elderly women with mild depression, and there was a significant decrease. The sub-domains of depression, such as tension and depressive emotions, life dissatisfaction, lethargy, cognitive difficulties, low energy, and loss of motivation, were significantly reduced. In addition, it has an effect on cognition, and it significantly increased in attention, delayed recall ability, which are sub-domains of cognition. There is a significant difference in depression between the experimental group and the control group, and there is a significant difference in cognition between the two groups.

The music therapy program with hand manipulation has a positive effect on depression and cognition in elderly women with mild depression.