The Effectiveness and Perceived Effectiveness of Simple Reminiscence Therapy Involving Photographic Prompts for Determining Life Satisfaction in Noninstitutionalized Elderly Persons

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness and perceived effectiveness of simple reminiscence therapy using photographic prompts on the life satisfaction of noninstitutionalized elderly persons. The Self-Anchoring-Life Satisfaction Scale (SALSS) was used to measure life satisfaction. Erikson's Developmental Theory and the concept reminiscence formed the theoretical framework for this study.

The convenience sample included 78 men and women, aged 65 years or older, who lived independently in the community. Participants were recruited and randomly assigned to one of three groups using a balanced design and then each group was randomly assigned as either the reminiscence therapy, current events, or no treatment (control group). Five participants did not complete the study.

Participants in the reminiscence group met one-to-one with the researcher, for four consecutive weeks to share personal photographs and dialogue about life experiences. They then described their perception of the intervention during a telephone interview following the experience. Those persons in the current events group also met weekly, one-to-one with data collectors, for four consecutive weeks discussing an article from the local newspaper. Participants in both the reminiscence and current events group completed the SALSS and a demographic data form at the first visit, and after four weeks they again completed the SALSS. The control group participants only received pre- and post-testing when beginning the study and again in four weeks. Persons in the current events and control groups did not participate in the telephone interview.

Paired t-tests revealed a significant difference in life satisfaction after participating in simple reminiscence therapy. A one-way analysis of variance for gain scores revealed no significant differences between groups; however, a post hoc test, LSD showed the reminiscence and control group approached a significant difference with an alpha of .128. Transcripts from the telephone interviews revealed eleven common themes.