Behavioral improvement in long-term geriatric patients during an age-integrated psychosocial rehabilitation program

A study was made of the effects of a psychosocial rehabilitative program on the behavioral functioning of elderly chronically ill patients. High school students served as remotivation and socialization therapists in a supervised structured process designed to improve the quality of life for the participating nursing-home residents. The participants were 12 long-term patients whose ages ranged from 62 to 99 years (mean, 73.2 years). The effectiveness of the program was evaluated by means of the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), a questionnaire designed to assess the effect of a physical illness on daily activities, psychosocial skills and mental status. The results demonstrated that the rehabilitative program had a significant impact on several dimensions of the lives of the participants. As a consequence of the interaction with the students, there was an increase in social interaction, a reduction in daytime sleeping and an increase in mobility. The results reported here extend the successful use of remotivation techniques to areas of overt behavioral functioning not previously assessed.