Cross-cultural effects of reminiscence therapy on life satisfaction and autobiographical memory of older adults: a pilot study across Mexico and Spain
Contact Information
Keywords
Alba Villasán Rueda, alba.villasan@ucavila.es
Aging; Cognitive stimulation; Quality of life; Reminiscence; Specific memory.
Abstract
Background There are increasing reports on the cognitive and emotional benefits of positive reminiscence therapy in older people. The objective of this study is to assess the differential improvement of the quality of life for older people in different vital situations (three different types of aging) and from different countries by implementing a positive reminiscence therapy program (REMPOS).
Methods
The participants were 144 older adults above the age of 65, 77 participants from Spain (45 experimental groups, 32 control groups) and 67 from Mexico (34 experimental groups, 33 control groups). The participants were recruited from nursing and retirement homes. A factorial randomized design with pre–post measurement with three independent variables: country (Mexico, Spain), condition (experimental, control), and types of aging (healthy aging, HA., mild cognitive impairment, MCI., Alzheimer’s disease, AD). The experimental groups received REMPOS therapy and control groups received standard cognitive stimulation program. The quality of life was measured with the Life Satisfaction Inventory for adults (LSI-A) and autobiographical memory test (AMT) before and after REMPOS therapy.
Results
The REMPOS intervention showed significantly higher positive effects than the control condition on the recall of specific positive memories across countries and types of aging, except for the Spanish MCI group. Life satisfaction in the Alzheimer’s and MCI group only improved with REMPOS in the Mexican sample.
Conclusions
The REMPOS effects showed generalizable effects across countries, but the cross-cultural differences shown highlight the necessity of running studies to test those differential effects.
Citation
Rueda, A. V., Cabaco, A. S., Mejía-Ramírez, M. A., Afonso, R. M., & Castillo-Riedel, E. (2023). Cross-cultural effects of reminiscence therapy on life satisfaction and autobiographical memory of older adults: a pilot study across Mexico and Spain. Alzheimer's research & therapy, 15(1), 204. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-023-01347-x
DOI
10.1186/s13195-023-01347-x
EWB Constructs:
(1) goal pursuit
(2) life satisfaction
(3) positive affect
(4) quality of life
(5) sense of meaning
EWB Measures:
(1)Life Satisfaction Index for the Elderly (LSI-A):
data availability:
Yes
data availability details:
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
brain imaging paradigm:
N/A
N/A
brain region/circuit:
Exclusion Criteria:
N/A
Inclusion Criteria
(1) be 65 years of age or older;
(2) healthy aging (HA), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD);
(3) who resided or visited a residential care facility or day centers where the intervention was carried out.
Non-EWB Behavioral
Measures:
(1) autobiographical memory test (AMT)
a. only analyzed the recall of specific memories for positive stimuli (EPOS)
b. negative stimuli (ENEG)
First author:
Alba Villasán Rueda
species:
Human
sample size:
144
study design:
(5) RCT
longitudinal data?
Yes
younger controls?
No
interventions:
positive reminiscence (REMPOS) therapy
study population:
(1) cognitively healthy adults; (2) patients with (pre)clinical dementia
sex (% female):
75.70%
ethnicity (%white)
not stated (Spain and Mexico)
Age (mean, sd):
79.9, 9.28
biological/Physiological Measures:
N/A