Active and healthy: a ten year group history designed to support relapse prevention for older people suffering with anxiety and/or depression

Active and healthy: a ten year group history designed to support relapse prevention for older people suffering with anxiety and/or depression John Charles Cole Mental Health and Social Inclusion, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp.134-145 The purpose of this project was to determine if consumers of Older People’s Mental Health (OPMH) recovering from depression and/or anxiety would benefit, in terms of a reduction in symptomatology and an increase in overall quality of life, from a group program approach. The Active & Healthy Group Program was developed drawing on evidenced-based psycho-education, psychotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy and research on the effects of diet and activity on well-being. The program consists of six weekly sessions, each consisting of 50 min of psycho-education followed by physical and social activity of similar duration. Pre-and post-testing was undertaken using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Kessler 10 (K10) and European Health Interview Survey-Quality of Life-8 Item Index. In addition, participants completed a qualitative post-group survey focussing on their evaluation of the group, strengths and suggested improvements. The pre- and post-group measures were subjected to statistical analysis. According to pre- and post-test measures, the majority of group participants showed significant reductions in depressive symptoms and psychological distress (GDS and K10). This aligned with an overall increase in meas...
Source: Mental Health and Social Inclusion - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Source Type: research