AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL WRITING WITH ORIENTED NURSING HOME RESIDENTS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY.
Contributors: University of Pennsylvania.
Published: 1995
Number of pages: 175
Subjects: Social Work.
Description: The purpose of the study was to develop a group work method, and the measurement of outcomes, that could be implemented with oriented nursing home residents. The focus of the study was on 20 alert, oriented residents' involvement with writing autobiographical material, which they presented at their weekly meetings over a 10-week period.

The intervention model that was formulated utilized Birren and Deutchman's (1991) group work method of guided autobiography and adapted it for use with oriented, long-term care residents. A quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design using both quantitative and qualitative methods was used to evaluate the outcomes of: self-esteem, social activity, dependency (ADL), and participants' satisfaction with the group experience. Data were gathered through survey instruments from a purposive sample of 40 alert, oriented nursing home residents, which constituted the experimental group (n = 20) and control group (n = 20) with all participants living within the same facility.

Results of the study revealed that there was a highly significant difference in self-esteem scores between the experimental and control groups on the differences between pretest and posttest scores, with the experimental group showing substantial gains. No significant differences were found between the experimental and control groups on the variables social activity and dependency. All experimental group members reported pleasure with the autobiography group experience.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-05, Section: A, page: 1984.

Thesis (D.S.W.)--UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 1995.

School code: 0175.