Social group work in a group practice. Group work with the retired elderly in Copenhagen

Standards of value exist in our society, which are based on a predominant conception of personal worth through socioeconomic utility. This gives some elderly people in their nonwork status, a self-image of uselessness and worthlessness, due to the loss of role, reference group, and decrease in prestige. This condition may lead to depression. Two social workers implemented an experiment on social group work in general practice in Copenhagen. The general practitioners referred for participation thirteen men and women, between sixty and seventy years old, who had left the labour market within the last three years. It seems possible to involve elderly people in expressing their individual problems to each other in a group, and to stimulate a better adaption to the new role as pensioner by increasing the members' ability to compensate through other activities. This might produce guidelines for resolving various common problems among elderly people.