Purpose: This study was performed to verify the effect of rhythmic activity program on the elderly particularly their level of instrumental activities of daily living(IADL), depression and sleep. Method: The design of this study is one-group pretest-post test design. Three self-reported questionnaires were used as follows: first, the IADL Scale developed by Lawton and Brody(1969) and revised by Suh(1996) for measuring IADL, second, the Geriatric Depression Scale developed by Sheikh and Yesavage(1986) and revised by Song(1991) for measuring depression, third, Korean Sleep Scale developed by Oh, Song, & Kim(1998) for measuring sleep aspects; fourth, the applied version of Facial Pain Scale developed by Wong & Baker(1988) and revised by Song(2004) for measuring sleep quality. Twenty-seven elderlies carried out 50 minutes of rhythmic activity program for 4 weeks. Before and after the experiment, they were tested for IADL, depression and sleep. Collected data were processed using the SPSS/WIN 12.0 program analyzed by the frequency, percentage, mean and paired t-test. Results: The improvement in IADL of the elderly was not enhanced significantly but depression and sleep disorders significantly decreased. Conclusion: Rhythmic activity program is an effective nursing intervention for the elderly.