Ethics code: IR.IAU.SHAHROOD.REC.1400.037
1- Shahrood, Iran.
2- Gilan University, Rasht, Iran.
2- Gilan University, Rasht, Iran.
Abstract: (164 Views)
Background and purpose: Aging is a natural process of change that affects a person's social and psychological status and brings about new developments. Aging has both positive and bad features. Life expectancy is one of the factors closely associated with getting older. A civilization's average life expectancy, or the number of years each person of that society may expect to live, is shown by the statistical indicator known as life expectancy. Due to the fact that the presence of psychological symptoms such as low life expectancy, in addition to imposing high costs on the health care system, results in poor treatment outcomes, timely diagnosis and treatment of psychological symptoms in the elderly leads to increased recovery, longer maintenance on other received treatments, and an improvement in their overall quality of life. Consequently, psychological therapy can assist the elderly in recovering from their individual, societal, and economic impairments. Logotherapy is one of these psychological procedures that assists clients in discovering the purpose of their lives. The acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is another subgroup of the third wave of psychotherapy that can lessen some of the secondary effects of aging by increasing the life expectancy of the elderly. In order to compare the effects of logotherapy and ACT on the life expectancy of the elderly, the present study was done.
Methods: The research design consisted of a semi-experimental pre-test and post-test with a control group. In the first six months of 1400, all elderly residents referred to Tehran Municipality’s health homes were included in the statistical population; 45 qualified participants entered the study by the available manner and were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. In this way, by announcing the call for 3 weeks, eligible elderly people were registered to enter the research (76 people), then the life expectancy questionnaire (Schneider et al., 1991) was implemented as a data collection tool. 45 elderly people who scored lower than average in the questionnaire (average score=36) were included in the study. Participants had to be at least 60 years old and no older than 75, residing in health homes in Tehran, and not receiving psychiatric drug treatment. Exclusion criteria included missing two or more intervention sessions and withdrawing from the study. In the current study, the intervention methods of logotherapy (Frankel, 1963) were employed in 10 90-minute sessions for the first experimental group and 8 90-minute sessions for the second experimental group, whereas the control group received no intervention. The gathered data were then analyzed using SPSS 23's univariate and multivariate covariance analysis with a significance level of less than 0.01.
Results: results indicated that logotherapy was beneficial in increasing functional hope (P<0.001), strategic hope (P<0.018), and the total life expectancy (P<0.001) of the elderly compared to the control group (P<0.001), but the ACT had no significant effect on life expectancy and its components. In the experimental groups, logotherapy was more effective in terms of life expectancy when compared to ACT (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Spirituality in the philosophical approach of logotherapy and discovering meanings outside the presence of others led to better success of group logotherapy than ACT, according to the findings. Logotherapists believe that unavoidable suffering gives people an opportunity to reveal their potential talents and the only option for humans to escape emptiness, despair, and hopelessness is to create meaning and value for themselves in every moment and progress in that direction; hence, it is recommended to utilize this therapy strategy in conjunction with drug treatment in elderly care facilities.
Methods: The research design consisted of a semi-experimental pre-test and post-test with a control group. In the first six months of 1400, all elderly residents referred to Tehran Municipality’s health homes were included in the statistical population; 45 qualified participants entered the study by the available manner and were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. In this way, by announcing the call for 3 weeks, eligible elderly people were registered to enter the research (76 people), then the life expectancy questionnaire (Schneider et al., 1991) was implemented as a data collection tool. 45 elderly people who scored lower than average in the questionnaire (average score=36) were included in the study. Participants had to be at least 60 years old and no older than 75, residing in health homes in Tehran, and not receiving psychiatric drug treatment. Exclusion criteria included missing two or more intervention sessions and withdrawing from the study. In the current study, the intervention methods of logotherapy (Frankel, 1963) were employed in 10 90-minute sessions for the first experimental group and 8 90-minute sessions for the second experimental group, whereas the control group received no intervention. The gathered data were then analyzed using SPSS 23's univariate and multivariate covariance analysis with a significance level of less than 0.01.
Results: results indicated that logotherapy was beneficial in increasing functional hope (P<0.001), strategic hope (P<0.018), and the total life expectancy (P<0.001) of the elderly compared to the control group (P<0.001), but the ACT had no significant effect on life expectancy and its components. In the experimental groups, logotherapy was more effective in terms of life expectancy when compared to ACT (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Spirituality in the philosophical approach of logotherapy and discovering meanings outside the presence of others led to better success of group logotherapy than ACT, according to the findings. Logotherapists believe that unavoidable suffering gives people an opportunity to reveal their potential talents and the only option for humans to escape emptiness, despair, and hopelessness is to create meaning and value for themselves in every moment and progress in that direction; hence, it is recommended to utilize this therapy strategy in conjunction with drug treatment in elderly care facilities.
Type of Study: Original Research Article |
Subject:
Psychology
Send email to the article author
| Rights and permissions | |
 |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
