Reminiscence Therapy Interventions For Loneliness Of Older People In Nursing Homes

The outbreak of the COVID-19 has made a huge difference to the lives of countless ordinary people.With the normalization of the epidemic,the physical health,mental health and social activities of the old have been severely affected,and the prolonged social isolation has taken a serious toll on the old living in social welfare institution.Therefore,it is urgent to intervene for the old with loneliness during the epidemic,and to alleviate their isolation and enhance their self-confidence,thereby positively influencing their daily lives and reducing the psychological harm caused by the epidemic.This study was conducted in a rural social welfare institution called L in Hubei Province to address the rising loneliness of the old who are living in the social welfare institution during the epidemic.Questionnaires,participant observation and semistructured interviews were used to analyse the causes of loneliness in 22 older people with intact language skills and self-thinking skills,and to select typical cases for social work intervention.By guiding those people to recall experiences and events of great significance at various stages of their lives,they were able to enhance their selfconfidence when facing their current lives and gain positive inner strength to achieve the goal of alleviating loneliness,and the intervention process and effects were evaluated to explore the ideas of social workers by providing some services for them.This study finds that the reasons for the loneliness of the elderly in nursing homes under the background of the epidemic are the psychological gap,individual cognitive bias,self-worth denial and neglect of their spiritual needs caused by closed management measures.The use of remembrance therapy to intervene in institutional elderly people can have a positive impact on their psychology,emotions,cognition,interpersonal relationships,etc.,and promote changes in the clientele.After intervention,the loneliness of the service clients has been significantly improved,their sense of selfidentity and self-confidence has been improved,their self-isolation has been improved,their interpersonal communication has improved,and they have more communication with the elderly in the hospital.This study proves that remembrance therapy has a significant effect on alleviating loneliness in the elderly during the epidemic.At the same time,living alone,weakened social support and deteriorating physical condition can also lead to loneliness in the elderly.In nursing institutions,the elderly will also feel lonely and lost due to environmental discomfort,separation from family and friends,etc.,and the use of remembrance therapy to intervene can help the elderly gain positive strength,learn to process and express emotions,improve their emotional communication and social interaction,and reduce loneliness.In addition,remembrance therapy also has significant effects on improving depression,anxiety,low self-esteem and poor subjective well-being in hospitalized and home-based elderly.When remembrance therapy involves the elderly,it is not affected by factors such as gender,age,marital status,and education level of the elderly.For older people who have lost a loved one or a relative for a short period of time,the treatment effect of remembrance therapy interventions is more pronounced.