THE EFFECTS OF INTERGENERATIONAL REMOTIVATION THERAPY ON THE LIFE SATISFACTION OF INSTITUTIONALIZED ELDERLY (OLDER ADULTS, NURSING HOMES)

Scope and Method of Study. This study investigated the effects of intergenerational remotivation therapy on the life satisfaction of institutionalized frail elderly to determine whether remotivation therapy conducted by children were more effective than remotivation therapy conducted by adults or the absence of remotivation therapy. Wood, Wylie, and Shaefor's (1969) Life Satisfaction Index-Z (LSI-Z) was administered to 36 nursing home residents who were randomly selected from three intermediate care facilities in the southwest. The residents were randomly divided into three groups. Group I received remotivation therapy led by children (RT + CH); group II received remotivation therapy led by an adult (RT); and group III served as a control. The LSI-Z was re-administered at the conclusion of the 10-week experiment.;Findings and Conclusions. Results did not indicate a statistically significant difference among the three groups. The positive response from both (RT and RT + CH) remotivation group participants, however, resulted in a request from nursing home personnel to continue the remotivation groups in all three nursing homes. Observations by nursing home staff members offer evidence of the positive effects of remotivation therapy on the level of life satisfaction of the elderly. Descriptive statistics for the attitudinal scale indicated a small positive shift in children's attitudes toward the elderly following participation.;Instrumentation measuring life satisfaction may not have been sufficiently sensitive for use in measuring the morale of the frail elderly. Differences in time of day and interruption of elderly participants' personal routines while collecting data also might have affected results. Children's opinions of the elderly could have been influenced by the discovery of mutual interests or by emotional bonding occurring between child facilitators and their elderly partners during the study.;A secondary objective of the study was to examine children's attitudes toward the elderly before and after remotivation group interaction with frail, elderly nursing home residents. Lane's (1964) Analysis of Attitudes of Students was adapted for use with sixth-grade students. The 15 sixth graders serving as group facilitators were pre and posttested using the adapted scale.