Effects of a reminiscence program among institutionalized elderly adults / Efectos de un programa de reminiscencia en ancianos institucionalizados

Background: Institutionalization during old age requires tremendous adaptability. Among the main consequences of the difficulty of adapting to the institutional context are prevalent depressive symptoms and low wellbeing. Reminiscence therapy has proven to be among the most effective at minimizing these outcomes. Method: This study purpose was to investigate the usefulness of reminiscence intervention in an elderly, institutionalized sample. Following a group format, the intervention lasted eight sessions and compared a treatment group and a control group, using pre-post measures and a single-blind design. We predicted that reminiscence intervention would have a positive impact on depressive symptoms, self-esteem, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being. Results: Significant results were obtained, including a drop in depressive symptoms and improved self-esteem, satisfaction, and psychological well-being. Conclusions: We conclude that reminiscence intervention yielded positive effects in institutionalized, elderly participants (AU)

Antecedentes: la institucionalización en el envejecimiento requiere una gran capacidad de adaptación. Entre las principales consecuencias producidas por la dificultad para adaptarse a un contexto institucionalizado destacan la prevalencia de síntomas depresivos y la disminución de bienestar, siendo la terapia mediante reminiscencia una de las que ha mostrado mejores efectos en la reducción de estas consecuencias. Método: el propósito de este estudio fue investigar la utilidad de la intervención mediante reminiscencia en una muestra de ancianos institucionalizados. La intervención tuvo formato grupal, con una duración de ocho sesiones comparándose un grupo tratamiento con un grupo control, con medidas pre-post mediante un diseño de simple ciego. El objetivo de este trabajo es que la intervención mediante reminiscencia produzca efectos positivos en la sintomatología depresiva así como en autoestima, satisfacción vital y bienestar psicológico. Resultados: se obtuvieron resultados significativos observándose una reducción de síntomas depresivos, así como una mejora de la autoestima, satisfacción y bienestar psicológico. Conclusiones: la intervención mediante reminiscencia produce efectos positivos en sujetos ancianos institucionalizados (AU)

Effects of a reminiscence program among institutionalized elderly adults.

BACKGROUND: Institutionalization during old age requires tremendous adaptability. Among the main consequences of the difficulty of adapting to the institutional context are prevalent depressive symptoms and low well-being. Reminiscence therapy has proven to be among the most effective at minimizing these outcomes. METHOD: This study purpose was to investigate the usefulness of reminiscence intervention in an elderly, institutionalized sample. Following a group format, the intervention lasted eight sessions and compared a treatment group and a control group, using pre-post measures and a single-blind design. We predicted that reminiscence intervention would have a positive impact on depressive symptoms, self-esteem, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being. RESULTS: Significant results were obtained, including a drop in depressive symptoms and improved self-esteem, satisfaction, and psychological well-being. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that reminiscence intervention yielded positive effects in institutionalized, elderly participants.