Effectiveness of Self-Healing Training on Death Anxiety, Hope, and Loneliness in Older Adults
Keywords:
self-healing training, loneliness, death anxiety, hope, older adultsAbstract
The purpose of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of self-healing training on death anxiety, hope, and feelings of loneliness in older adults. The research method was quasi-experimental with a pretest–posttest control group design. The statistical population consisted of adults aged over 70 years residing in a nursing home in Khorramabad City in 2024. Using convenience sampling, 50 participants were selected and randomly assigned to two groups of 25 (25 in the experimental group and 25 in the control group). Participants in the experimental group received self-healing training in eight sessions, each lasting 90 minutes, while the control group did not receive the intervention. Research data were collected using the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS; Templer, 1970), the Hope Questionnaire (HQ; Snyder et al., 1991), and the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell et al., 1980), and were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance. The findings indicated that, after controlling for pretest effects, there were significant differences between the posttest means of death anxiety, hope, and loneliness in older adults at the 0.01 level. Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that empowering older adults through self-healing training is an effective educational approach for reducing death anxiety and loneliness and for enhancing hope in this population.
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