Design and Evaluation of an Educational Intervention to Prepare Close-to-Retirement Employees for Retirement

This study aimed to assess the effect of an educational intervention for preparing close-to-retirement employees for their retirement. This randomized pre/post interventional study was conducted among 140 employees of Kerman University of Medical Sciences. The 70 employees in the intervention group were educated in four 4 h sessions, including health, leisure time, and financial needs. The instrument used was the Retirement Syndrome Questionnaire. Findings show that feelings of helplessness and failure and oldness and idleness significantly decreased after the educational intervention, and feelings of effort and a new direction significantly increased. The educational intervention led to the improvement of retirement syndrome in the studied population. Therefore, to help them adjust to retirement, it is essential to consider retirees’ challenges and increase their awareness about retirement requirements by providing social support and educational courses.