Enhancing Life Quality in Community-Dwelling Older Omanis by Telling Their Life Story

Enhancing Life Quality in Community-dwelling Older Omanis by Telling Their Life Story and Creating Life-story Book

This study investigates whether sharing life stories and creating life-story books can enhance the quality of life and life satisfaction and reduce depression in older adults. The primary research question is:

Did the quality of life, life satisfaction, and levels of depression improve more for participants in the intervention group compared to those in the control group?

Participants will be divided into two groups:

• Intervention group: These participants will share life stories and create life-story books.
• Control group: These participants will not share life stories or create life-story books.

Background: The main goal of this study is to investigate whether telling their life stories and developing a life-story book intervention affects a group of Omani older adults' quality of life, life satisfaction, and depression symptoms.

Methods: In Oman, a randomized controlled trial with repeated measures was conducted to evaluate the impact of the intervention. 75 older individuals were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (n = 38) or the control group (n = 37). Baseline demographic data were collected as an initial reference point. To comprehensively assess changes over time, participants' depression levels, life satisfaction, and overall quality of life were measured at multiple time points: weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8. This longitudinal design allowed for a nuanced analysis of intervention effects across different implementation phases.

This study believes that participants in the 8-week trial of the life-story review intervention were successful in reducing depression and improving life satisfaction and quality of life in the older population. Healthcare professionals can use such interventions to enhance older persons' mental health and well-being.

Inclusion Criteria:

• aged 60-90;
• depressive symptoms score between 5 and 10;
• able to sign the consent form;
• able to speak Arabic or English;
• able to communicate without the need for a hearing aid.

Exclusion Criteria:

• using hypnotics, sedatives, antidepressants, anticholinergics, antihistamines, tranquilizers, or melatonin for sleep;
• having a medical diagnosis of Parkinson's, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, or a serious mental problem;
• Participants assigned to the intervention group who did not want to be audio recorded.