Intergenerational Reminiscence Intervention In The Mental Health Of The High-educated Elderly ——A Case Study Based On A Retired Teacher In H University

With the increasingly severe degree of aging,the voice of advocating healthy aging is growing louder and more and more scholars realize that the mental health of the elderly is as important as physical health.Although the high-educated elderly have no worries about food and clothing in life,they generally have a higher pursuit of spiritual enrichment.When their spiritual needs can’t be met,they are prone to fall into loneliness,pessimism,uselessness and other negative emotions,affecting their mental health.As a clinical intervention,reminiscence has a positive effect on improving the mental health of the high-educated elderly.Intergenerational interaction can eliminate the stereotypes and prejudices of young people towards the elderly and create a good social environment for the improvement of mental health of the high-educated elderly.Therefore,the author takes a retired professor in a university as an example to study the process and effect of intergenerational reminiscence which combines reminiscence and intergenerational interaction to intervene in the mental health problems of the elderly.Before the intervention,the mental health of the client and the status of the volunteers were evaluated,and it was found that the client had depression,loneliness and low self-image.The volunteers had a slight positive attitude toward the elderly,but the intergenerational interaction anxiety and aging anxiety were obvious.Then,the author deeply analyzes the unmet spiritual needs of the client.Under the guidance of the theory about social development of personality and group contact,the author carries out the intergenerational reminiscence participated by the social workers,the client and the college student volunteers.By designing the corresponding four thematic intergenerational reminiscence activities to serve the different aspects of the client’s spiritual needs and improve her mental health.Finally,the scales and interview were used to evaluate the effect of the intergenerational reminiscence.The results show that intergenerational reminiscence,as a means of reminiscence,can improve the client’s mental health,ease the client’s depression,reduce her loneliness and enhance her self-image.At the same time,as a means of intergenerational interaction,college volunteers can learn about history,learn from experience,thus improving their attitude towards the elderly and reducing intergenerational contact anxiety and aging anxiety,and finally reduce the negative effects of age discrimination on the mental health of the elderly and create a friendly social atmosphere for the elderly to achieve healthy aging.However,when choosing the intergenerational reminiscence intervention model,it is also necessary to consider the outstanding potential and advantages of the high-educated elderly group,the lack of family support from their children,and the high level of developmental needs,etc.At the same time,there are certain requirements for the client,social workers and volunteers to achieve the intervention goal.