Reminiscence Therapy on Depression, Self Esteem, Life Satisfaction, and Loneliness of the Elderly

• Change in self esteem using the Self-Esteem Scale (SES) [ Time Frame: the 6th and 18th week ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
• Change in life satisfaction using the Life Satisfaction Index A (LSI-A) [ Time Frame: the 6th and 18th week ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
• Change in loneliness using Russell's UCLA Loneliness Scale [ Time Frame: the 6th and 18th week ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]

The primary hypothesis is, comparing with the control group, reminiscence therapy is significantly and clinically effective to improve the experiment group's depressive symptoms after six weeks therapy, and the efficacy can be maintained on the three months follow-up.

The secondary hypothesis is, comparing with the control group, reminiscence therapy significantly reduce the loneliness and increase the self-esteem and life satisfaction of the experiment group.

The subjects who are arranged to the experiment group will be intervened using the reminiscence therapy manual proposed by Watt and Cappeliez (2000). According to the manual, the group consisted of six weekly sessions of 90 min each. During each weekly session, the memories recalled focused on a different theme.

Data collection will occur on screening (as for baseline or pre-test), after intervention immediately (as for post-test), and three months after the intervention (as for follow-up). And outcome measures use standardized instruments with demonstrated validity and reliability:

Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) Rosenberg self-esteem scale (SES) Life Satisfaction Index A (LSI-A) Russell's UCLA Loneliness Scale

• Experimental: reminiscence therapy
  Reminiscence therapy is a method of using the memory to protect mental health and improve the quality of life.
  Intervention: Behavioral: reminiscence therapy
• No Intervention: Control group
  The participants assigned to the waiting-list as the control group will be treated as before. After the intervention period, we will conduct reminiscence therapy on them if they ask for.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. 60 years of age and older;
2. A score above 10 and lower than 26 on the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS);
3. A score of 24 or higher on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE);
4. Not taking anti-depressant medication or taking part in other psychotherapy when enrolling, if taking anti-depressant medication, must be stabilized on that medication for at least three months;
5. Having no problem with communication (such as, can speak fluent mandarin, or if he/she speaks a dialect, his/her dialect can be understood by most of people).

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Suicide attempt;
2. A diagnosis of cognitive impairment by DSM-Ⅳ, or mental disorders other than depression;
3. Alcohol or drug abuse;
4. Cannot grantee attending the therapy at a weekly base due to physical impairment, lack of time or unwilling etc.