The Study On Group Counseling To Improve Social Support For Elderly In Community

Object：Basing on previous study, we found the elderly social support system isrelatively simple and fragile, which not only affects their sense of happiness and lifesatisfaction, but also increases their risk of mood disorder as depression and the riskof cognitive aging. To prevent the decline in the elderly Social support, according togroup counseling indications and consulting experience, this study designed groupcounseling for older urban communities to improve their levels of social support.Method：Researchers randomly selected two communities as the experimentalgroup and control group in Nanchang, through the Montreal Cognitive AssessmentMOCA (Chinese version) and Self-Rating Depression Scale CES-D screening of87sixty older adults without cognitive disorder and depression in these communities.Using Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) as a pretest we assessed the subject’s levelof social support, and then conducted implementation of group counseling once aweek, which lasted eight weeks, cumulative twelve hours to experimental group,while no intervention was given in control group. After counseling, immediatelypost-tested the old people’s level of social support by SSRS, and interviewed thesetwo groups after three months.Result：Experimental results show that: the experimental group and the controlgroup revealed statistical significant difference in the overall level of social supportdue to the experimental treatment (F=16.547, p<0.001, η2=.177). Both of groups inthe objective support dimension showed statistical significant difference for the samereason (F=30.337, p<0.001, η2=.283). Both of groups were tested on the subjectivedimension scores while supporting a significant difference due to the experimentaltreatment (F=4.938, p<0.05, η2=.060), but in the utilization of social support levelthere are no significant differences. Qualitative interviews in tracking phase showedthat the improving effect still exists during the three months after the end of groupcounseling.Conclusions:(1) The support group counseling program is effective to improvesocial support of older people, especially the objective support.(2) Support group counseling made a foundation for group members to gain healthy subjective support, which improved their immunity to negative stuff and theirscientific response. Thus positive attitude towards aging was promoted.(3) By conducting group counseling in the community, group membersestablished new social links each other. Mutual behavior during counseling involvedemotional support and instrumental support, so as to provide possibilities for furtherdevelopment of this social link into new social support.