Search

This study aims to review the use of reminiscence interventions in the reduction of loneliness in older adults by categorising the interventions by type, and comparing their effectiveness and methodological quality. This is a systematic review following PRISMA guidelines. The search was restricted to studies published in the Cochrane, CINAHL, Web of Science, Psycarticles, Psycinfo, and PubMed databases until December 2022. The inclusion criteria for the studies included in this review were: 1) reminiscence intervention 2) loneliness outcome measure 3) adults over 60 years old 4) experimental, pre-experimental, and quasi-experimental studies. A total of twelve studies were eligible for inclusion. Only nine studies included a control group, and seven of those report significant effectiveness in reducing loneliness levels. The most popular type of intervention is simple reminiscence and life review, and in-group format. The interventions to date have been very heterogeneous, and the methodological quality of the existing literature is moderate to weak. While reminiscence interventions hold some promise for reducing loneliness levels among older adults, future methodologically rigorous research is required, and standardised protocols need to be developed for application, with the specific aim of reducing levels of loneliness among older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In dit onderzoek zijn op experimentele wijze effecten van het ophalen van autobiografische herinneringen op emotioneel welbevinden onderzocht. Respondenten tussen de 65 en 80 jaar (N=70) werden geïnstrueerd over een herinnering te schrijven aan hun leven op 15- tot 30-jarige leeftijd. Ze deden dit op een verhalende wijze over een positieve herinnering, op een verhalende wijze over een negatieve herinnering of op een interpreterende wijze over een negatieve herinnering. Tevens is onderzocht of spontane alledaagse reminiscentietypen het effect van de experimentele manipulatie op emotioneel welbevinden modereren. Het verhalend ophalen van positieve herinneringen blijkt gunstiger voor negatief affect dan het verhalend of interpreterend ophalen van negatieve herinneringen. Alledaagse reminiscentietypen spelen bij deze effecten geen modererende rol, al zijn ze wel gerelateerd aan emotioneel welbevinden. De effecten van gemanipuleerde en spontane reminiscentie staan dus grotendeels los van elkaar. Dit is een gunstige bevinding voor interventies, omdat het herbeleven van positieve herinneringen gestimuleerd kan worden, ongeacht de wijze waarop ouderen gewend zijn om over hun verleden na te denken.

Drama therapy has been found to improve various facets of mental health while aging. It provides opportunities for personal growth and creative expression and enhances group relationships. Drama therapy is a widely acknowledged way to explore the life stories in late life. However, only a handful of studies have empirically explored the value of drama therapy for the aging population. This conceptual analysis was designed to address this need by developing a new integrative model of drama therapy. The analysis is based on the review of the results of four studies that explored the integration of life-review and playback theater as a drama therapy approach for older adults. The therapeutic process focused on the exploration of life-crossroads stories, a short unique technique which enables the participants to craft a harmonious view of their life stories in a short-term dramatic creative group process. Combining the four results yielded a multidimensional model which points to three potential transformative routes: the evolution of the life story, the evolution of improvised dramatic expression, and the expansion of social engagement. The transformative routes are described through the lens of role theory in drama therapy.

Drama therapy has been found to improve various facets of mental health while aging. It provides opportunities for personal growth and creative expression and enhances group relationships. Drama therapy is a widely acknowledged way to explore the life stories in late life. However, only a handful of studies have empirically explored the value of drama therapy for the aging population. This conceptual analysis was designed to address this need by developing a new integrative model of drama therapy. The analysis is based on the review of the results of four studies that explored the integration of life-review and playback theater as a drama therapy approach for older adults. The therapeutic process focused on the exploration of life-crossroads stories, a short unique technique which enables the participants to craft a harmonious view of their life stories in a short-term dramatic creative group process. Combining the four results yielded a multidimensional model which points to three potential transformative routes: the evolution of the life story, the evolution of improvised dramatic expression, and the expansion of social engagement. The transformative routes are described through the lens of role theory in drama therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the technical advancement of cross-reality platforms – including virtual, mixed and augmented reality, the term 'virtual bodies' has become widespread. Despite its increased use, however, there has not been much investigation of 'virtual bodies' taking into account a cross-cultural approach that links traditional methods and digital outcomes. This article will demonstrate the methods of experiencing virtual bodies, in the context of Korean healing ritual, along with discussions of my avatar life-review projects, in the phase of wishing, facing, creating and performing virtual bodies. Since 2016, I have been working on avatar life-review platforms that have a mirrored body movement and lip-synchronization of live speech. This platform was implemented in two projects: in the Voicing Elder (2016), the avatar life-review for older adults at Gayton Terrace Senior Living, Richmond, VA; The Voicing Han (2019), the avatar life-review for cancer patients, at VCU palliative care, Massey cancer center, Richmond, VA. These avatar life-review sessions will be discussed as examples of wishing, facing, creating and performing virtual bodies, to proactively experiment, design and facilitate emotional and therapeutic experiences. It will enrich the potential of technically mediated bodies in digital space, supported by the constant development of virtual, interactive and simulation technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spirituality is an important component of spiritual well-being (SWB) and quality of life in the elderly. The Hear My Voice study explores the impact of spiritual life review and spiritual legacy document (SLD) formation on people with advanced diseases, including the elderly. Interview transcripts and SLDs of five participants ≥80 years were reviewed. Cases were summarized with an emphasis on spirituality and resiliency. Follow-up survey results were analyzed. Common themes included spirituality providing comfort, strength, community, and inspiration. Trends toward improved SWB and faith were detected after life review and SLD formation. Satisfaction surveys indicated greater sense of meaning post-intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will examine ongoing avatar life-review projects, in the light of drama therapy concepts and methods, exploring a hybrid model of avatar/drama therapy in a virtually mediated environment. The avatar life-review platform will incorporate techniques/methods of drama therapy and psychodrama such as role playing, rolereversal, doubling and mirroring as a hybrid therapeutic model between VR and theatre. It will address multiple states of self in dramatic paradox, especially for people with traumatic memories, disabilities, memory loss or mental health complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:This paper examines the contribution of a new group of therapeutic interventions for older adults, based on a rudimentary life-review intervention. The intervention includes narrative elements together with drama therapy. The current study examines the influence of this therapeutic intervention on key indicators of mental health and psychological well-being among older adults. Method:Fifty-five people(n = 55),ranging in age from 62 to 93, participated in a before–after study design. The following indices – meaning in life, self-acceptance, relationships with others, depressive symptoms, and experience of successful aging – were compared between an intervention group (n= 27) and a care-as-usual control group (n= 28). Results:Repeated measures analyses of variance showed a significant improvement over time in the experimental group. In addition, results also showed time-group interaction regarding the treatment's effectiveness for self-acceptance, relationships with others, sense of meaning in life, sense of successful aging, and depressive symptoms. Conclusion:Our findings confirm that the new therapeutic intervention, which integrates life-review with drama therapy, increases self-acceptance, relationships with others, sense of meaning in life, and sense of successful aging; in turn, it also decreases depressive symptoms among older adults. The contribution of this research is based on the development of a therapeutic intervention that combines narrative together with drama therapy tools, which can be used in focused and short-term group treatments with the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Life-review interventions (LRI) are psychotherapeutic techniques originally derived from gerontology, which can be distinguished from other biographical and reminiscing techniques. They have been systematically implemented and investigated not only in elderly clients with depression, cognitive decline, in oncology units and in hospices but also in adolescents with various mental problems. LRI are mainly based on the elaboration of the autobiographical memory as well as on personal identity consolidation. This bears the potential for the systematic introduction, use, and evaluation of LRI within the field of psychotraumatology. Method: This article gives a general overview and outlines a structured LRI by means of a case example of a World War II-traumatised patient. Other applications and implementations of LRI in psychotraumatology and other related areas are presented. Result: So far, only uncontrolled or controlled LRI case studies have been investigated with traumatized samples. Conclusion: The importance of further randomized controlled studies is emphasized.

New systems have been introduced that support the visualisation and sharing of personal digital data, but relatively little work has been done to establish how such systems support reminiscence and personal reflection. In this paper, we explore Intel's Museum of Me, a tool that collates and presents Facebook data in the form of a virtual museum, by asking how such an automated biography might support personal reflection and a process of life review. We supported users in their creation of personal virtual museums and interviewed them about their experiences, using a theoretical framework that highlighted the importance of personal narratives and life review in identity formation and psychological well-being. Our participants enjoyed the experience and welcomed the opportunity for reminiscence, but considered their resulting videos to be rather shallow representations of self, reflective of some of the more trivial exchanges and relationships that can come to dominate social media. We argue that social media in its current form is not well suited to support a meaningful life-review process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Life-review has been established as an evidence-based treatment of depression in later life. This study investigates the cost-effectiveness of life-review compared to care-as-usual. Methods An economic evaluation alongside a randomized controlled trial was carried out, comparing life-review ( n = 100) to care-as-usual ( n = 102). Individuals of 55 years and over, with moderate depressive symptomatology, were included. Treatment response was defined as a statistically reliable reduction of depressive symptoms on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale. Total per-participant costs encompassed intervention costs, costs of receiving other treatments, participants' out-of-pocket expenses, and costs stemming from production losses, and were expressed in (2009) euros (€). Results At 6-month follow-up, treatment response was 54.0% and 27.5% in the life-review and usual-care conditions, respectively. The difference in effectiveness was statistically significant at p = .001 (2-tailed). In the respective conditions the costs were €5550 and €3162, with the higher costs in the intervention arm of the trial. The incremental cost-effectiveness was €8675 (US$10,227) per improved participant. Conclusion The findings suggest that offering life-review rather than care-as-usual almost doubles the likelihood of a favorable outcome. However, the better clinical outcomes are achieved at greater costs. The conclusion that life-review offers good value for money is sensitive to the willingness to pay for a favorable treatment response. It is recommended that life-review is delivered by a single therapist and in larger groups as this may improve the cost-effectiveness of this intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. The study used a randomized controlled trial to investigate the short-term and long-term effects of life-review as online-guided self-help in adults (40+) with moderate depressive symptomatology. We evaluated ego-integrity and rumination as mediators and assessed whether the effects of the intervention did not differ across middle-aged and older adults. Method. Effects of life-review (n = 58) were compared with a waiting list group (n = 58) and an expressive writing intervention (n = 58) on depressive symptoms (primary outcome), anxiety, and well-being (secondary outcomes). Mediator and moderator analyses were also applied. Results. Compared with the waiting list, life-review reduced depressive symptoms (d = 0.35) and enhanced emotional (d = 0.16) and psychological well-being (d = 0.27). Life-review was not more effective than expressive writing. The effects on depressive symptoms were partly related with increases in ego-integrity and decreases in rumination. The intervention is applicable for middle-aged and older adults. Conclusion. Life-review is effective as self-help for middle-aged and older adults with moderate depressive symptomatology compared with a waiting list group. Future research should investigate whether stimulating ego-integrity and reducing rumination enhance the effects of the intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

De laatste jaren is er veel onderzoek gedaan naar de functies van reminiscentie bij ouderen in relatie tot geestelijke gezondheid. In dit artikel wordt allereerst een overzicht gegeven van dit onderzoek. Er worden acht functies onderscheiden: herbeleving van bitterheid, opheffen van verveling, vorming van identiteit, oplossen van problemen, behoud van intimiteit, voorbereiding op de dood, onderwijzen/ informeren en conversatie. Sommige functies zoals het herleven van bitterheid worden vaker gebruikt door mensen met depressieve of angstklachten. Andere functies zoals identiteitsvorming worden juist minder gebruikt door mensen met psychische klachten. Op basis van deze empirische gegevens wordt een model voor reminiscentie-interventies gepresenteerd. Reminiscentie, life-review en life-reviewtherapie worden onderscheiden. Lifereviewtherapie behoort met cognitieve gedragstherapie tot de meest effectieve behandelingen van depressie bij ouderen. Tot slot worden drie effectieve interventies die in Nederland zijn ontwikkeld en onderzocht besproken. Dit zijn Op zoek naar zin, Dierbare Herinneringen en De verhalen die we leven.

Life-review interventions (LRI) are psychotherapeutic techniques originally derived from gerontology, which can be distinguished from other biographical and reminiscing techniques. They have been systematically implemented and investigated not only in elderly clients with depression, cognitive decline, in oncology units and in hospices but also in adolescents with various mental problems. LRI are mainly based on the elaboration of the autobiographical memory as well as on personal identity consolidation. This bears the potential for the systematic introduction, use, and evaluation of LRI within the field of psychotraumatology. This article gives a general overview and outlines a structured LRI by means of a case example of a World War II-traumatised patient. Other applications and implementations of LRI in psychotraumatology and other related areas are presented. So far, only uncontrolled or controlled LRI case studies have been investigated with traumatized samples. The importance of further randomized controlled studies is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study integrated results from controlled trials of reminiscence interventions. Methods: Meta-analysis was used to aggregate results from 128 studies on 9 outcome variables. Results: Compared to non-specific changes in control-group members, moderate improvements were observed at posttest with regard to ego-integrity (g = 0.64) and depression (g = 0.57 standard deviation units). Small effects were found on purpose in life (g = 0.48), death preparation (g = 0.40), mastery (g = 0.40), mental health symptoms (g = 0.33), positive well-being (g = 0.33), social integration (g = 0.31), and cognitive performance (g = 0.24). Most effects were maintained at follow-up. We observed larger improvements of depressive symptoms in depressed individuals (g = 1.09) and persons with chronic physical disease (g = 0.94) than in other individuals, and in those receiving life-review therapy (g = 1.28) rather than life-review or simple reminiscence. Moderating effects of the control condition were also detected. Conclusions: Reminiscence interventions affect a broad range of outcomes, and therapeutic as well as preventive effects are similar to those observed in other frequently used interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Exaggerated fears about losses as we age, especially as exemplified by inimical cultural stereotypes about transient short-term memory losses, may effectively prevent older individuals from enjoying the changes in their memory patterns. In later life, a lifetime of memories may spontaneously begin returning to us as we age. New cognitive science research seems to confirm insights from literature and depth psychology that older individuals are uniquely qualified to be explorers, as the poet T.S. Eliot has said they should be. Unlike the brains in younger years, older brains have “broad attention spans” that look beyond narrow boundaries as they search and explore the world about them. This essay includes World Wide Web URLs to 22 minutes of video documenting one 62-year-old woman's exploration of long-term memories in a life-review memoir. She wrote the memoir in a lifelong learning class, as a way of harvesting a part her long-term memory about a childhood trauma, and as a way of helping assuage the trauma by catharsis. Finally, I discuss recent research that indicates the strength that older people have to make good use of distractors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article autobiography is defined as "a dialogue of the self with itself in the present about the past for the sake of self-understanding." Spirituality involves connectedness to oneself, others, nature and to a larger meaning. It is associated with creativity, play, wisdom, faith, and a sense of oneness. Writing and reflecting on one's autobiography enhances spiritual growth and can be therapeutic, freeing people from outlived roles and self-imposed images. After discussing the history of spiritual autobiography as a genre, the author compares and contrasts four approaches to autobiography: the structured life review, the guided autobiography, the intensive journal workbook, and autobiographical work in twelve-step programs. For those who work with older persons these techniques should prove very useful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A critical developmental task of midlife involves reviewing one's past as well as preparing for one's future. The ability to identify past choices, task responsibility for them, and utilize developing patterns in future decision making is seen as a critical component of continued adult development. The Choicemap offers a structured clinical tool to guide such a midlife review. Engaging in this process assists adults in developing choicemaking skills, and provides a powerful clinical intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]