The Effect of Reminiscence Therapy on Elderly Mental Health

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of reminiscence Abstract therapy on elderly mental health. Methods & Materials: This was a quasi-experimental study .The sample was consisted of 57 elderly men and women who were residing in the HASHEMI NEJAD institution, were selected by stratified random sampling. Inclusion criteria were: 1) 65 years of age or more, 2) Mental health score between 0-66.6, 3) Speaking in Farsi, 4) Listening and speaking ability acceptable to participate in meetings, 5) Full-time life in nursing home, 6) No history of psychiatric hospitalization and psychiatric treatment and grief experience during the past 6 months, 7) Willingness to participate in research, 8) orientation of data/place/person, 9) At least six months staying in the nursing home, 10) Not receiving any treatment that disturbed the mental ability or memory, or thought Mental health level of subjects was assessed with the use of the 28-item Goldberg General Health Questionnaire. The intervention consisted of 8 reminiscence sessions, twice in a week, for one hour and half. In these sessions the elderly told their good memories. The data were analyzed by spss16 software and compared by t-test. Results: Findings of this study showed significant difference between pre and post test scores in all mental health dimensions (somatic symptom, anxiety and insomnia, social function and depression)and in total scores (P=0.001). Conclusion: Considering the results of this study, it is suggested that reminiscence therapy is effective on the elderly mental health improvement. Therefore we can use this easy, practicable and low cost technique in all nursing home.