The Study Of Group Work Involved In The Improvement Of Mental Health Level Among Urban Empty-Nest Elderly

With the development of social economy and changes in the concept of family structure,empty nest families are occupying a larger and larger proportion in the social system,gradually attracting the attention of social policies and people from all walks of life.At the same time,along with the continuous growth of China’s population aging trend,the group of empty nesters has also increased significantly,and the material security,spiritual and cultural needs,and mental health level of this group have become the key issues of concern.Due to the influence of internal and external risk factors such as physical decline,social maladjustment and sudden negative events in their old age,the mental health level of urban empty nesters is generally declining and accompanied by different degrees of mental health problems,which needs urgent attention and solution.Social work services are recognized by all sectors of society for their long-standing professional roles and working methods,and their long-term experience in communicating with the elderly groups is promising when it comes to improving the mental health of urban empty nesters.This study uses resilience theory as the main theory,supplemented by social support theory,with the aim of exploring the feasibility of group work intervention to improve the mental health level of urban empty nesters.The study takes an old Y community in Chengdu as an example,and uses a combination of questionnaire survey method,literature research method,and semi-structured interview method to examine the current situation of the mental health level of urban empty nesters in this community,the internal and external risk factors that trigger mental health problems and the need for improvement.The results of the interviews and questionnaires revealed that urban empty nesters generally have different degrees of mental health problems,and the causes of the problems are internal and external risk factors such as aging physical functions,cognitive decline,social maladjustment,low self-efficacy,lack of child care,lack of social support,and negative life events.At the same time,urban empty nesters have realistic needs in three areas: psycho-emotional regulation,self-efficacy enhancement,and social support establishment.Since the dimensions of resilience are highly relevant to the problems and needs of urban empty nesters’ mental health,we developed thematic group activities based on the three dimensions of resilience: inner strengths,efficacy,and external support,which include "Hello friend,I am the master of my emotions,finding my original I am my role model,you are my role model,distant relatives are better than close neighbors,we are a family,and goodbye friends",to gradually promote the level of mental health of the elderly.The evaluation of the whole practice process and the achievement of the goals revealed that the group members had improved their psychological health to different degrees.It was concluded that group work guided by the theory of resilience and the theory of social support can,to a certain extent,help urban empty nesters to relieve their psychological emotions,improve their self-efficacy,and strengthen their social support network through the identification and application of protective factors,thus improving their psychological health and ensuring a quality life in their old age.Since the mental health of urban empty nesters is a complex and long-term process,it requires the cooperation and efforts of multiple subjects to solve the problem.Finally,we propose countermeasures at three levels: social policy,community care,professional practice and empty nest elderly families,in the hope that more forces can be involved in this process to jointly promote the solution of the mental health problems of urban empty nesters.