Acceptability Ratings of Psychotherapeutic Treatments for Elderly Individuals

Adults age 60 and older were presented with written scenarios depicting a 75-year-old woman with a behavioral problem The client in the case varied by cognitive capacity (impaired or intact), behavior problem (physical aggression, verbal disruption, or noncompliance), and living situation (nursing home or family home) Participants rated six types of psychotherapy treat ments with Kazdin's Treatment Evaluation Inventory: person-centered therapy, strategic family therapy, transactional analysis, play reading, group therapy, and purposeful activity. All treat ments were considered acceptable by these older respondents; however, person-centered therapy was rated the most acceptable. These treatments were also rated as slightly more acceptable for cognitively intact case clients than for impaired ones. Treatment ratings varied according to the case client's living situation (i.e., nursing home or family home).