Purpose: The strudy was done to determine the effect of an exercise program using the muscle
strengthening flowchart on flexibility and hand strength and depression of rural elderly women.
Methods: For 11 months, from January 9, to November 29, 2013, a survey was done of 37
voluntary participants who were elderly women living in rural areas. This study was a one group
pretest-posttest Quasi-experimental research design to identify the effectiveness of self-directed
programs. The Korean version of the depression measurement tool (Jo and Kim, 1993) was used.
The collected data were analyzed using frequency, descriptive statistics, and paired t-test with
SPSS /PC 17.0 program. Results: Comparison of before and after the self-directed program
showed that flexibility (p <.001), left grip strength (p <.001), and right grip strength (p <.001) were
significantly increased. Depression (p <.001) was significantly reduced. Conclusion: The results of
the study show that the exercise program using the muscle strengthening flowchart resulted in of
significant muscle strengthening and reduction in depression in rural elderly women. Future use of
the muscle strengthening flowchart is recommended to provide long-term operational exercise
programs.