Tracy Chippendale1, Jane Bear-Lehman. 1. Department of Occupational Therapy, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Tufts University, 26 Winthrop Street, Medford, MA 02155, USA. tracy.chippendale@tufts.edu
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: We examined the effects of engaging in the occupation-based intervention of life review through writing on expressed depressive symptoms as measured with the Geriatric Depression Scale in older adults residing in senior residences. METHOD: The study design was a randomized controlled trial that took place in four senior residences in New York City. Forty-five participants (23 treatment, 22 wait-list control) ≥ 65 yr old participated in the 8-wk, once-weekly autobiographical writing workshop, Share Your Life Story (Sierpina, 2002). RESULTS:Depressive symptoms were significantly less prevalent for the treatment group than for the control group after the 8-wk life review program (repeated-measures analysis of variance p = .03). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the Share Your Life Story writing workshop is an effective occupation-based intervention for occupational therapists to use with older adults who reside in senior residences.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: We examined the effects of engaging in the occupation-based intervention of life review through writing on expressed depressive symptoms as measured with the Geriatric Depression Scale in older adults residing in senior residences. METHOD: The study design was a randomized controlled trial that took place in four senior residences in New York City. Forty-five participants (23 treatment, 22 wait-list control) ≥ 65 yr old participated in the 8-wk, once-weekly autobiographical writing workshop, Share Your Life Story (Sierpina, 2002). RESULTS:Depressive symptoms were significantly less prevalent for the treatment group than for the control group after the 8-wk life review program (repeated-measures analysis of variance p = .03). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the Share Your Life Story writing workshop is an effective occupation-based intervention for occupational therapists to use with older adults who reside in senior residences.
Authors: Julene K Johnson; Tim Carpenter; Nancy Goodhart; Anita L Stewart; Lindsay du Plessis; Angela Coaston; Kristen Clark; Ann Lazar; Jeffrey Chapline Journal: Arts Health Date: 2020-08-03