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Psychotherapy for elderly people
Geropsychology is the study of aging and provision of clinical services for older adults. As researchers, geropsychologists expand knowledge of aging and design interventions to address common problems. As practitioners, they help older persons and families overcome issues to enhance well-being. Common problems for the elderly include physical/cognitive decline, loneliness, poverty, health issues, and discrimination. Depression and anxiety are also prevalent, sometimes triggered by life changes. Psychotherapies like relaxation techniques, cognitive behavioral therapy, reminiscence therapy, and family therapy can help address mental health issues facing the elderly.
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Psychotherapy for elderly people
- 1. Psychotherapy for Elderly MuhammadMusawar Ali MPHIL, ICAP [email protected]
- 2. Elderly people Most developedworld countries have accepted the chronological age of 60 years as a definition of 'elderly' or older person. What Is Geropsychology? Geropsychology is a field within psychology devoted to the study of aging and the provision of clinical services for older adults
- 3. Work of geropsychology:As a psychologists As researchers, geropsychologists expand knowledge of the normal aging process and design and test psychological interventions that address problems that commonly arise as people age. As health care practitioners, psychologists help older persons and their families overcome problems, enhance well-being, and achieve maximum potential during later life.
- 4. What elderly peoplelook likes : • Physical visual and hearing problems smell and taste losses susceptibility to illnesses Leading Cause of Death heart diseases cancer pneumonia
- 5. • Cognitive decline inmental processes – may • experience memory lapses or • disorientation. • ALZHEIMER’s Disease • …is a progressive irreversible brain disorder that is characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language and physical functioning. • ..WHO reports as of 2009 that almost 35 million elderly suffers from this kind of disease.
- 6. • ALZHEIMER’s Disease •… this disease has no cure and the cause is unknown, as such people do not know how to prevent it although some doctors reported that it could be alleviated with some form of diet and memory training games. • Alzheimer’s is a sad disease – the elderly cannot remember the people and place in their lives. They need consistent care because they could walk away or get lost • Attention: Simple or focused attention such as the ability to attend to a television program tends to be preserved in older age. Difficulties may be encountered, however, when divided attention is required such as trying to pay attention to the television and simultaneously talk on the telephone.
- 7. Problems of elderlypeople Cognition and aging Attention: Simple or focused attention such as the ability to attend to a television program tends to be preserved in older age. Difficulties may be encountered, however, when divided attention is required such as trying to pay attention to the television and simultaneously talk on the telephone.
- 8. • Social because oftheir declining health and limited mobility, most elderly have the tendency to withdraw from the society – spending most of their time looking back – reflecting on what they have made out of their lives. Social Theories of Aging Disengagement Theory Activity Theory Social breakdown Reconstruction Theory
- 9. •Social Theories ofAging Disengagement Theory – as older adults slow down, they gradually withdraw from the society. • Disengagement is a mutual activity in which the elderly not only disengaged in the society, but the society disengages from the older adult. • The elderly develops greater self-preoccupation and decrease emotional ties with people and reduced interest in social activities. Such social withdrawal and increased self-absorption was thought to increase life satisfaction among them.
- 10. • Social Theoriesof Aging Activity Theory– as opposed to the disengagement theory, this theory argues that the more active and involved the elderly are, the more likely that they are satisfied with their lives. It is therefore important to find substitute activities for them after their retirement.
- 11. •Social Theories ofAging Social Breakdown -Reconstruction Theory This theory states that aging is promoted through negative psychological functioning brought about by the negative views of the society about elderly and inadequate provision of services for them. Social reconstruction can occur by changing the society’s view of the elderly and by providing adequate social services for them.
- 12. Issues Facing theElderly LONELINESS
- 13. • Death ofa husband or wife and many friends. • Children are busy with work and may not even come • to visit them. Grandchildren are busy with school. • Physically weak elderly may feel that they are burden so they try to stay away even if people are around. • Loneliness leads to depression – they feel alone and unproductive.
- 14. Issues Facing theElderly • POVERTY
- 15. • They cannotearn anymore and they do not have money. • May receive retirement pension but may not also be enough because of their increasing medical needs. • As such many even try to continue working even after reaching the retirement age.
- 16. Issues Facing theElderly • HEALTH
- 17. • diminished sensoryand motor abilities • tendency to acquire various illnesses such as heart disease, Alzheimer's, cancer, etc.
- 18. Issues Facing theElderly • DISCRIMINATION
- 19. • Job discrimination– employers • prefer younger applicants because • ….inexperienced workers have cheaper salaries • …employers believe that the elders could only stay in work for a short time because of their declining physical condition • ….elderly are thought of as slower and less capable.
- 20. • Social discrimination– maybe excluded from family or community services because they are seen as incapable. • Medical Discrimination - Some doctors treat them without much care because they think they don’t deserve such because they are already old.
- 21. Other Problems relatedto old age •Depression. •Increased amount of dependence. •Decreased in re-creational tasks. •Loss of work role identity. •Increased amount of leisure time •Decreased financial support. •Increased loneliness and separation. •Peer and family restructuring.
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- 23. • Depression, amood disorder that involves excessive feelings of sadness. • Geriatric depression is a mental and emotional disorder affecting senior citizens. • There are many warning signs of depression, including feeling sad, losing interest in the things that the person used to enjoy doing and feeling tired or out of sorts. • People over age 65 can experience depression that is triggered by life changes. The loss of a loved one, children moving away, A move towards home, such as to a retirement facility that can trigger depression. A loss of independence can make people feel frustrated and depressed.
- 24. Continued Depression in olderadults may be hard to detect. Common symptoms such as fatigue, appetite loss, and trouble sleeping can be part of the aging process or a physical illness. As a result, early depression may be ignored, or confused with other conditions that are common in older adults. The Geriatric Depression Scale was developed as a screening and assessment tool for depression in older adults. The original scale consisted of 30 questions but was considered too time consuming by some patients and staff to use in everyday practice. A shorter version (GDS- 15 – Appendix 1) keeps the most discriminating questions and the validity is similar to the original form. The GDS-15 is a useful adjunct to diagnosis for depressive illness but does not take the place of a full clinical assessment.
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- 26. Anxiety disorders arepsychological issues that center on feelings of fear and sometimes include panic attacks. • As with depression, anxiety is often triggered in older adults because of life changes. In addition, stresses of aging, like memory loss and poor health, can cause or exacerbate anxiety disorders. Elements provoking anxiety in seniors are the losses sustained naturally during the aging process and the thoughts of danger and vulnerability associated with these losses.
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- 28. • Relaxation techniquescan aid elderly individuals in reducing the amount of stress that they feel. Popular relaxation techniques for elderly are: Muscle Relaxation • In this technique, participants are encouraged to focus on tensing up and then releasing and relaxing the muscles in their main muscle groups, including their shoulders, arms, fingers, legs and toes. Visualization • This technique involves participants imagining part taking in their favorite activity in a beautiful place, such as relaxing on a sandy beach, standing on the top of a mountain or swimming in a crystal clear lake. Top 4 Relaxation Techniques for Elderly Individuals
- 29. Continued…. Gentle Exercise • Non-strenuousexercises, such as Yoga, and Tai Chi, are popular amongst the elderly, allowing them to gently stretch and strengthen their bodies while focusing on their breathing techniques. Listening To Calming Music • Soothing music can help to ease fear and anxiety in the elderly.
- 30. Psychotherapies Psychotherapies may include •cognitive behavior therapy, • reminiscence therapy, • Care giver Family therapy • Narrative therapy
- 31. Therapy for Anxiety •The purpose of CBT is to help the patient reduce or eliminate the behavior and thinking patterns that are contributing to his/her suffering and to replace dysfunctional patterns of behavior and thought with patterns that promote health and well-being.
- 32. • Cognitive therapyis an effective, directive, time-limited approach to helping people change their irrational thoughts, assumptions, and beliefs. Cognitive therapy and medications have been more effective than either treatment alone. Cognitive theory suggests that disorders arise from a negative view of the world and from automatic and negative thinking patterns (e.g., the future is bleak, the world is bleak, and the self is worthless).
- 33. Therapy for depression •Interpersonal therapy: Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) is a structured therapy for people with moderate to severe depression. A central idea in IPT is that psychological symptoms, such as depressed mood, can be understood as a response to current difficulties in our everyday interactions with others. IPT can typically focuses on the following relationship areas: • Conflict with another person • Life changes that affect how you feel about yourself and others • Grief and loss • Difficulty in starting or keeping relationships going
- 34. Family therapy • Familytherapy is a type of psychological counseling (psychotherapy) that helps family members improve communication and resolve conflicts. Family therapy is usually provided by a psychologist, clinical social worker or licensed therapist. • Family therapy attempts to correct distorted communications and relationships by engaging the family in problem-centered interventions; it can lead to improved family function and enhance the recovery from the depressive symptoms. • Music therapy. This type of therapy is usually conducted by music therapists, and it has demonstrated efficacy; it may include listening to music, playing musical instruments, dancing, and singing. In the elderly, music therapy could lead to improvement in depression, decreased anxiety, and remission of agitation in addition to improved coping with cognitive difficulties.
- 35. Therapy for Alzheimer •Treating Alzheimer's Disease through Caregiver Family Therapy • Caregiver Family Therapy • Engage family caregivers in active and focused problem solving approaches related to family caregiving to improve quality of care, reduce burden and improve family functioning.
- 36. Therapy for Dementia/Cognitive Process • Narrative Therapy • Narrative therapy is an intervention that involves storytelling. • The counselor’s role is to facilitate the client’s telling of his or her story by utilizing basic counseling skills like paraphrasing, reflecting, restating and others.
- 37. • The goalof narrative therapy is to provide clients with an opportunity to reconstruct the meaning of their story in a way that provides a deeper sense of understanding of the elements of their story and the impact their story has on their life and general sense of self. • The client’s role is to actively engage in the process by sharing their story and analyzing portions of their stories with the goal of reconstructing or re-shaping the story with the desired result of personal growth.
- 38. Reminiscence therapy • Reminiscencetherapy is the process of recalling personal experiences from an individual’s past. The theory behind RT is that an individual’s function is improved by decreasing demands on impaired cognitive abilities; it is a way to affirm who they are, what they’ve accomplished in their lives, and a chance to relive happy times. For those who suffer with dementia, depression or anxiety it is a way to talk easily about things they do remember.
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