The Effectiveness of Self-Healing Education on the Quality of Life in the Elderly

The successful elderly seems to be one of the main concepts in gerontology. The elderly is a biological process experienced by all living beings, including humans. The quality of life may affect the elderly’s health. Accordingly, the current study was to determine the effectiveness of self-healing training on the quality of life among the elderly in 2020. The method of the present study was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest and follow-up design with a control group. The statistical population included all women living in a nursing homes in Isfahan, Iran, among whom 40 were selected using convenience sampling and according to the inclusion criteria, by a public call in the mentioned boarding nursing homes, and assigned randomely into two groups (20 members each). The measure applied in the present study was Ware and Sherbourne’s quality of life questionnaire. Latifi and Marvi’s self-healing training was performed for the experimental group during twelve 60-minute sessions. Data were analyzed by univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) by using SPSS-24 software. The results demonstrated that self-healing training had positive effects on the components of quality of life (including physical function, role limitation due to physical reasons, energy and vitality, emotional well-being, physical pain and general health) in the experimental group compared to the control group significantly in the post-test (p<0.05) and these effects had remained significantly constant in the follow-up phase (p<0.05). However, there was found no significant difference in the other components of quality of life (including limitation of role playing due to emotional reasons and social functioning), both in the posttest and follow-up stages (p>0.05). According to the results of the present study, it can be mentioned that the self-healing approach improves the quality of life and increases the elderly’s general health by reducing the physiological stress through methods of treating destructive cellular memories, improving lifestyle and teaching relaxation techniques.