RESILIENT AGING ROUNDTABLE: AN EVALUATION OF A BRIEF COMMUNITY PSYCHOEDUCATION DISCUSSION GROUP

Abstract

Increased aging resilience levels are associated with many positive outcomes for older adults including improved quality of life, increased coping and adaptation, and decreased depressive symptoms (Earvolino-Ramirez, 2007; Fullen & Gorby, 2016; Hicks & Conner, 2014; (Sharpley, Bitsika, Wootten, & Christie, 2014). However, very few resilience promotion programs are described in the literature. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate a brief, community-based psychoeducation group designed to enhance aging resilience. Participants were recruited through a private mental health practice focused on serving older adults in the Pacific Northwest. Nine participants (M age = 71; 78% female, 100% non-Hispanic white; 100% with some college) completed the pre- and post-assessment measures: An adapted 9 item version of the Communicative Ecology Model of Successful Aging (CEMSA; Fowler, Gasiorek, & Giles, 2015) and the Groningen Ageing Resilience Inventory (GARI; van Abbema et al., 2015). The discussion group consisted of six 90-minute meetings every-other-week, facilitated by a licensed clinical psychologist. Each meeting focused on a different topic related to psycho-social aspects of aging and included understanding ageism, embracing change, creating meaning, normal and “successful” aging, and strengthening social ties. Although not statistically significant, initial results showed lower post-assessment mean scores on the CEMSA indicating lower levels of aging uncertainty, negative attributions, and pessimism as well as higher post-assessment mean scores on the GARI indicating higher perceived resilience. Moreover, 77.7 % of the group agreed or strongly agreed that they had learned a lot from the group. Future directions will be discussed.