Engage! A pilot study of brief behavioural activation to promote engagement and wellbeing in older adults.
- Conditions
- Healthy AgingMental Health - Studies of normal psychology, cognitive function and behaviour
- Registration Number
- ACTRN12620000126910
- Lead Sponsor
- Curtin University
- Brief Summary
The current study sought to investigate the usefulness and acceptability of BA to promote well-being in a group of non-clinical older adults. Eighteen adults aged between 65 and 86 who were retired and living independently in the community were provided a 6-week BA program predominantly delivered online. Treatment retention, self-ratings, and participants’ compliance to treatment principles indicate preliminary feasibility for the use of BA as an approach for increasing active engagement in older adult populations. Participants also provided feedback on their experiences with the program post-intervention via individual structured interviews. These interviews revealed that participants found the program to be beneficial in terms of increased self-awareness and social engagement, and provided several recommendations for improving acceptability of the program and workbook. The unexpected events relating to the first wave of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) led to necessary adaptations to delivery modalities, and provided the researchers with an opportunity to investigate the use of a structured well-being program on a high-risk population during a pandemic. Our findings support the proposition that BA is a suitable intervention for increasing engagement and well-being in older adults, provide insight into adapting programs for older adults, and suggest next steps for testing intervention efficacy.
- Detailed Description
Not available
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- Completed
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 18
Individuals will be eligible to participate if they are adults over the age of 65 years who are fluent in English, fully retired, and living in the community.
Dementia diagnosis will be the only exclusion criterion, anticipating that people living with dementia may benefit from a more tailored intervention, and may experience the current program quite differently from other older adults.
Study & Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Study Design
- Not specified
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Meaningful activity, as assessed by the Life Engagement Test (LET; Scheier et al., 2006).[At 3-months after commencement of intervention.]
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method