A Case Intervention Study On Health Anxiety Of Elderly Living Alone

According to China’s seventh census,the number of elderly people living alone in China has reached 32.56 million,and the number of elderly people living alone will grow with time.Among such a large group of elderly people,the number of people suffering from health anxiety is increasing.The lack of care and companionship from children leads to a sense of loneliness and helplessness among the elderly living alone for years,and their physical functions gradually decline as they age.Therefore,social workers should play an active role in addressing the health anxiety of the elderly living alone.Through professional service skills and targeted support activities,they can help the elderly living alone to alleviate their health anxiety.In this paper,we investigate the health anxiety situation of the case owner,Elder Q,by using participant observation method,unstructured interview method and questionnaire survey method.After identifying the client’s problems and needs,a casework model was used to intervene in the client’s health anxiety problem through rational emotion therapy.In the service plan,the main line is to help the client correct irrational beliefs and build rational cognition;the secondary line is to help the client build a social support network and enrich recreational life.The whole intervention plan is divided into four parts: learning ABC theory to uncover irrational beliefs;refuting irrational beliefs and constructing rational cognition;reviewing the knowledge learned to consolidate the effectiveness of the service;reconstructing the support network and enriching recreational life.In the intervention phase,the techniques of rational emotion therapy were used to refute the irrational beliefs of the clients and help them build rational cognition.Then,by helping the client build a social support network and learn to use cell phone entertainment software,the client’s solitary life was enriched,and the client’s excessive concern about her health was reduced,thus achieving the goal of alleviating her health anxiety.In this paper,both process and outcome assessments are used to evaluate the whole case.The process assessment mainly includes the assessment at the initial stage of case intake,the assessment at the middle stage of intervention,and the assessment at the end stage of case closure.Effectiveness assessment was divided into scale assessment and follow-up interview.The results of the study showed that rational emotion therapy was feasible to be applied to the health anxiety of elderly people living alone,and the health anxiety of elderly people living alone was significantly improved after the casework intervention.