Group reminiscing experience with aging people .

The premise of this study was that aging people would experience improved morale as a result of reminiscing group therapy. The reminiscing focus was expected to benefit the participants by providing social contacts and material for storytelling, appreciation of the individual’s achievements and those of other, and the opportunity for life review, resolution of old conflicts, and grief work. Eighteen elderly daycare clients participated in the research. The Philadelphia Geriatric Center (PGC) Morale Scale was used to measure the outcomes in a pretest-posttest with control group quasi-experimental design. The design was modified to include two therapy groups, one which received socialization group intervention, and one which received reminiscing group intervention. That structure would allow the investigator to discern which group therapy was more beneficial. The groups met twice-a-week for one hour over eight weeks with the investigator-therapist. Cross-tabulations of the results showed that the Socialization Group experience slightly poorer morale after the therapy, but that the Control and Reminiscing Groups demonstrated improved morale. Bar graphs of each subject’s pretest and posttest scores, however, did show some individual shifts in levels of morale, but there were no patterns in those changes. The results did not support the hypotheses. Problems of attrition, research design, and instrumentation contributed to the inconclusive results. Most important, the study was too brief to permit the development of an adequate therapeutic experience. In addition, the PGC Morale Scale might not have been sensitive to therapeutic change. Controlled studies of therapeutic benefits for aged people are rare because they are difficult to design and implement. Although more group therapy is being done, information is needed about the process of therapy, the effects of the therapists’ styles, and the influence of the setting on therapy and vice versa, and outcomes for the clients. The population of aged people is steadily decreasing. Therefore, it is necessary that program development be based on shared information and research. The investigator recommends the therapeutic applications of reminiscence need further delineation and study.