Effects of Existential Group Counseling on Enhancing Psychological Well-Being of Elderly Residents in Songkhla Foundation

Abstract

This research aimed to study the psychological well-being of the elderly, to compare the effects of psychological well-being of the elderly before and after the experiment, to compare the effects of enhancing the psychological well-being of the elderly in the experiment group and the control group and to compare the effects of the psychological well-being of the elderly in the post-experiment and the follow up period.  The sample for the study included 20 elderlies aged 60 years and over with a psychological well-being score of 25^th percentile and lower who resided at Jong Hua Foundation for the Elderly and Homeless in Hatyai District, Songkhla Province.  The subjects were divided into two groups of 10 people serving as a control and an experiment group.  The instruments used in the research consisted of Psychological Well-Being Scale for the elderly, existential counseling program and activities designed for the elderly.  The data were analyzed using such statistics as arithmetic mean, standard deviation, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test and Mann - Whitney U Test.  The results showed that the post-experiment psychological well-being of the elderly was higher than that of the pre-experiment at the .01 significance.  The psychological well-being of the experiment group was higher than that of the control group at the .001 significance.  The psychological well-being of the experiment group during the follow-up period differed significantly from that of the post-experiment period at the .05 level, whereas that of the control counterpart showed a .01 significant difference.  During the follow-up period, the experiment group showed a .001 higher psychological well-being than the control group.