School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Centre for Gerontological Nursing, School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Int J Older People Nurs. 2019 Sep;14(3):e12238. doi: 10.1111/opn.12238. Epub 2019 Apr 26.
Life story work has a long tradition in the caring sciences and has been found to serve a number of psychological functions. The effects of life story work on the psychological well-being of community-dwelling older people were examined in this study.
For this randomised controlled trial, 244 community-dwelling participants in 17 social centres run by a non-governmental organisation were recruited. The participants were randomly allocated to intervention (n = 124) and control (n = 120) groups. Each member of the intervention group worked with a volunteer to prepare his/her life storybook, while those in the control group participated in a social program. Data were collected at baseline, immediately postintervention, and at three and six months postintervention. The outcomes included measures of life satisfaction, self-esteem, general mental well-being and depressive symptoms.
No significant interaction effect was observed between the groups over time, except for an improvement in the general mental well-being of the control group at three months postintervention.
A comparison of the findings in the literature showed that some positive results were reported for LSW studies conducted in nursing homes, whereas in community studies, the results were not always positive. Life story work for seniors in the community did not have the same positive outcomes as previously observed among nursing home residents. It is possible that the intervention had a greater effect on more deprived individuals. Community-dwelling seniors can be encouraged to participate in social activities, which apparently can lead to similar outcomes.
Clinicians should not assume that similar interventions can have similar effects when delivered in a different setting. Community-dwelling seniors can be encouraged to participate in social activities, which can also promote psychological wellbeing similar to to the effects of activities related to life story work.
生活故事工作在关爱科学领域有着悠久的传统，并且已经被发现具有多种心理功能。本研究旨在探讨生活故事工作对社区居住老年人心理健康的影响。
这项随机对照试验共招募了 17 个由非政府组织运营的社会中心的 244 名社区居住老年人。参与者被随机分配到干预组（n=124）和对照组（n=120）。干预组的每位成员都与一名志愿者合作制作他们的生活故事书，而对照组则参加社会项目。在基线、干预后即刻、干预后 3 个月和 6 个月收集数据。结果包括生活满意度、自尊、一般心理健康和抑郁症状的测量。
除了对照组在干预后 3 个月时一般心理健康状况有所改善外，两组之间在时间上没有观察到显著的交互效应。
与文献中的发现进行比较表明，在养老院进行的 LSW 研究报告了一些积极的结果，而在社区研究中，结果并不总是积极的。社区老年人的生活故事工作没有像以前在养老院居民中观察到的那样产生积极的结果。可能是干预对更贫困的个体产生了更大的影响。可以鼓励社区居住的老年人参加社会活动，这显然可以带来类似的结果。
临床医生不应假设在不同环境中提供类似的干预措施会产生类似的效果。可以鼓励社区居住的老年人参加社会活动，这也可以促进与生活故事工作相关的活动相似的心理健康。
