The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on Promoting Mental Health and Quality of Life in Elderly Women

Abstract

Introduction: The elderly are a physically and mentally vulnerable group that needs to be well thought out for their mental health and quality of life. This research was conducted to study the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on mental health and quality of life among the elderly Urmia city. Methods: The method of the study is semiexperimental. Statistical population composes of all elderly women in Urmia. The sampling process conducted with random method of simple sampling 30 women chosen from one of the nursing homes in Urmia as sample groups and was determined to experimental and control groups randomly. The research tools were general health questionnaire (GHQ) and world quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF). Descriptive statistical indexes and analysis of covariance test were applied orderly to data description and testing of research hypotheses. Results: The mean age of participants was 59.13 ± 6.28 years. The results of MANCOVA showed that acceptance and commitment based group training had significant effect on all components of mental health of the elderly women (P<0.01). Also the results of MANCOVA showed that acceptance and commitment based group training also had a significant effect on the components of quality of life in the elderly women (P<0.01). Conclusions: In this study, it was found that Group training based on ACT improves mental health and quality of life in the elderly women.