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Influence of a “friendly visitor” program on the cognitive functioning and morale of elderly persons
Author(s) -
Reinke Barbara J.,
Holmes David S.,
Denney Nancy W.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/bf00918178
Subject(s) - psychology , cognition , alertness , visitor pattern , conversation , clinical psychology , gerontology , medicine , psychiatry , communication , computer science , programming language
Forty-nine nursing home residents were randomly assigned to a visitation condition focusing on conversational interaction, a visitation condition in which the playing of cognitively challenging games supplemented conversation, or a no-treatment control condition. Each subject in a visitation condition was visited by an undergraduate student twice per week for 8 weeks. Before and after the visitation period, all subjects were given four tests of cognitive functioning (vocabulary, matrices, memory, problem-solving), three tests of morale (Life Satisfaction Index A; Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale, self-perceived health), and were rated by nursing home activity directors on morale, program participation, alertness, sociability, and physical condition. A multivariate analysis of covariance, in which age, education, and length of nursing home residency were covariates, revealed a reliable overall effect for the treatment (p = .001). Subjects in both visitation conditions generally demonstrated improved performance relative to control subjects, and subjects in the conversation-plus-games condition demonstrated the greatest improvement. The univariate effects for memory, self-perceived health, and ratings of sociability were reliable.