Reminiscence Therapy for Older People Suffering from Loneliness, Anxiety and Depression: A Literature Review

Abstract

Reminiscence therapy is a type of psychotherapy that is usually used to treat mental health problems. Reminiscence therapy uses the recall of past events, feelings and thoughts to facilitate pleasure, quality of life or adaptation to present circumstances. Reminiscence therapy is believed could provide numerous benefits to older people especially those in residential aged care facilities. The aim of this paper is to review the literature in order to explore the effectiveness reminiscence therapy for older people with loneliness, anxiety and depression. This paper considered all types of research design. The inclusion criteria are studies that included older people aged 60 years and over. A literature search strategy involved published and unpublished literature. Fifty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. Results determined that reminiscence therapy may reduce feelings of depression but no firm conclusion can be made. The effectiveness of reminiscence therapy for older people with loneliness and anxiety is not well established. Further research in this area is needed in terms of improvement of methodological quality and new elements in reminiscence therapy.



Author Information
Sharifah Munirah Syed Elias, The University of Queensland, Australia
Christine Neville, The University of Queensland, Australia
Theresa Scott, The University of Queensland, Australia

Paper Information
Conference: ACP2015
Stream: Mental Health

This paper is part of the ACP2015 Conference Proceedings (View)
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Posted by James Alexander Gordon