게슈탈트 관계성 향상 프로그램이 우울성향 독거노인의 우울과 자아통합감에 미치는 효과 = The Effect of Gestalt Relationship Improvement Program on Geriatric Depression in Elderly People Living Alone

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study was to conduct a Gestalt Relationship Improvement Program and to verify its effect on the treatment of the depression and ego integrity in elderly people living alone. Elderly people who were over 65 years old, lived in a hall for the aged of the community in Gyonggido, had no problems with cognitive function and communication, and scored over 14 in the KGDS were selected. At the early stage of study, 9 subjects were assigned in each of experimental and control group by random sampling. However, 1 subjects were dropped out at both groups. Finally, the number of subjects in both groups was readjusted to 8. This study used MMSE-K to assess the cognitive function of the elderly, and to verify effectiveness. The KGDS was used to assess depressive symptoms and the Ego Integrity Scale was used to assess ego integrity level. The experimental group was treated by Gestalt group therapy in 10 sessions of 90 minutes each for 5 weeks, and control group was also treated. We found that the Gestalt Relationship Improvement Program significantly decreased depression in the elderly. In the experimental group, the level of depression was significantly decreased after the Gestalt Relationship Improvement Program. Second, the Gestalt Relationship Improvement Program significantly increase ego integrity in the elderly. In the experimental group, the level of ego integrity significantly increased after Gestalt Relationship Improvement Program. Third, the effects of the Gestalt Relationship Improvement Program were still evident at a 2 week follow-up. The effects of the program were maintained for KGDS and its subcomponents(2,3,4) and the level of subcomponents(1,3,6) of ego integrity. The delayed effects of the program also appeared for the level of subcomponent(1) of KGDS. The results suggested that this Gestalt Relationship Improvement Program had a positive effect on Geriatric Depression in elderly living alone. In addition, the Gestalt Relationship Improvement Program can positively affect ego integrity in the elderly. So this study showed that the Gestalt Relationship Improvement Program can have a positive influence on psychological wellbeing of the elderly.