Effect of Communication Skills Training of the Elderly and their Caregivers’ on Elderly Lifestyle

Communication skills refers to a personchr('39')s ability to convey information to others effectively and efficiently, which can be learned and can be strengthened through practice and training. The purpose of the current study was to determine the effects of communication skills training on the lifestyle of the elderly.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 140 elderly and their caregiver in Khorzugh, Isfahan province, in 2018. A stratified random sampling method was used. Data collection tools were demographic information, the Interpersonal-Communication Skills Test, and the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II. In the test group of the elderly, a 180min intervention with a 2-month follow-up was performed. Mann-Whitney, Kolmogorov–Smirnov, Wilcoxon, and Spearman tests were used and analyzed in SPSS 25.

Most of the group of caregivers and elderly were women, housewives, and married. The mean scores of the communication skills and lifestyles before and after 2-months of the intervention had a significant difference between the experimental and control groups of the elderly (p<0.001). Nevertheless, Comparing the mean score of the spiritual growth between the two groups of test and control elderly before and after 2-months, the intervention showed no significant differences (p>0.05). The total score of communication skills in both experimental and control groups of the caregivers two months after the training intervention was significantly different (p<0.001).

An educational intervention based on communication skills training effectively improves the communication skills and lifestyles of the elderly.