Research On Peer Support Group For Self-care Elderly In Pension Institutions

With the rapid development of population aging and the weakening of family pension functions in China,more and more elderly people choose institutional pension.Although pension institutions have developed rapidly and its service quality has continued to improve,the content of services still focuses on guaranteeing the material life of the elderly and lacks of spiritual care for them.The self-care elderly within institutions are more autonomous and have higher spiritual needs.The loneliness and sense of loss caused by long-term unmet needs will make them give up institutional care,or even fall into a dilemma of without supports,thereby triggering serious social problems.However,peer support can effectively promote communication and exchanges between the self-care elderly and their peers,meet their own spiritual needs.From the perspective of social work,based on social support and group dynamics theory,a research focusing on the self-care elderly in H pension institution is conducted.After a series of questionnaires and interviews,this research finds that self-care elderly in institutions generally have problems of strong loneliness and less peer support.In addition,they own needs to improve peer interpersonal communication,obtain peer emotional support,and meet the needs of peers to care for their lives.According to the specific needs of the self-care elderly within institutions,six group activities aiming to help them get acquainted with each other,gradually trust and enhance peer support,improve their negative psychological state,and promote mutual-assistance among the elderly were designed,so as to construct an effective peer support network.In the evaluation stage,the group’s effectiveness is evaluated by questionnaire and interview method,and make a conclusion on the basis of the evaluation.The motivation and support among peer groups effectively improve the life satisfaction of the self-care elderly in pension institutions,improve their mental status,and help to construct a social support network.The practical group work shows that social workers play an important role in promoting peer support for self-care elderly within institutions,and similar elderly pension institutions can also provide similar services for the self-care elderly to improve their life quality.