The Effectiveness of Reality Therapy Concepts on Self-esteem of the Elderly in the Center of Aramesh in Parsabad

Aim: This research was conducted to study the effectiveness of reality therapy concepts on self-esteem of the elderly.

Materials and Methods: The present study was semi-experimental and its design was pretest-posttest with a control group. The statistical population consisted of elderly men at the Center of Aramesh in Parsabad. Using the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 50 elderly men were evaluated, and among them 30 persons were identified to enter this study, and they were randomly assigned into two groups: Experimental and control group. Self-esteem scale was performed to both experimental and control groups. To collect data, Rosenberg self-esteem questionnaire was used. Reality therapy training sessions for two intervention groups were held twice a week during eight sessions, and there was follow- up for a month. Data were analyzed using variance analysis with repeated measures.

Findings: The results showed that the difference between self-esteem mean scores of two groups is significant, and reality therapy was to increase self-esteem of the elderly significantly (p<5 %). Also, comparison between mean scores of pretest and posttest in both groups showed increasing self-esteem scores in posttest period was a significant difference.

Conclusion: The results of this research revealed that reality therapy is useful in increasing self-esteem among the elderly. The implementation of such group sessions are recommended in the residences and retirement centers of the elderly.