Treating Age-Related Issues with Mindfulness, Personal Narrative, and Group Support: Developing a Wellness-Based Therapeutic Program for Older Adults

Although older adults represent an ever-growing specialized population, there is a lack of customized therapeutic approaches to target aging-related issues. There are multiple physical, cognitive, and emotional losses/disturbances associated with the process of aging, including chronic pain, disability, attentional impairment, memory loss, depression, death-related anxiety, spiritual concerns, loss of purpose, and bereavement. In order to address these specific age-related domains, a therapeutic program involving mindfulness-based practice, narrative therapies, and group processes will be developed. The program will be targeted toward community-dwelling older adults with relatively intact cognitive, emotional, and physical functioning and physical impairment. Those who suffer from severe mental illness/mood disturbances, incapacitating medical conditions, or any clinically-diagnosed dementia will not be invited to participate. To maximize the potential effectiveness of this program, a comprehensive literature review of current geriatric psychological research and therapeutic techniques was performed. In addition, a needs-based assessment involving semi-structured interviews was conducted with older adults.