The Effectiveness of Group Social Work Forgiveness Intervention on the Life Satisfaction of the Elderly Living in Care Institutions

Approaching the old age and living in care homes may lead to decrease in the life satifaction of the elderly people. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of group forgiveness intervention on life satisfaction of the elderly people living in care homes.
Methods & Materials: The research method of the study is interventional¡ quasi-experimental. A total of 55 participants from 4 elderly care homes in Tehran¡ Iran were selected by random cluster sampling method and randomly divided into 2 groups of experimental and control. They completed questionnaire of life satisfaction and 8 sessions of group forgiveness intervention were held for the experimental group and control group received conventional treatment interventions. Finally¡ their life satisfaction was assessed in both groups again. The instruments for data collection were demographic information form and life satisfaction inventory-Z (LSI-Z) (1969) and the obtained data were analyzed by SPSS ver. 16.
There was no significant differences between 2 groups with regard to life satisfaction before the intervention. But the results of independent t test revealed that life satisfaction in the experimental group has increased compared to that in the control group and this difference is significant (P Participating in forgiveness group sessions has impact upon the life satisfaction of the old people living in care centers and implementing a protocol to increase the forgiveness can help promote the quality of life of old people living in care homes.