一个适合我们老年人的小组活化作用节目一个适合我们老年人的小组活化作用节目

© 2009, © 2009, Sven Rydberg, Ph.D.Sven Rydberg, Ph.D.Private Practitioner, Private Practitioner,

Stockholm, Sweden, EUStockholm, Sweden, EU

Een Programma de Groep van de ACTivering voor ons Oude Mensen

A Group ACTivation Program

for Us Old Folks

OUTLINE

•Successful Aging: Research and Models

•Our Senior-Citizen Residence–SVPH Fredhällshusen, Stockholm

•Our Activation Program: The Breakfast Club–Its progress 2007-2009–A little exploratory study started.

Successful Aging •Aging gain less, lose more

•Still, we may:

• Keep …

• Compensate

• Cope proactively.

Keep

• 1. Healthy – (Lifestyle)

• 2. Able in body and mind

• 3. Engaged with life.

Keeping: A healthy lifestyle helps

Avoid disease & related disability.

Keep high cognitive

& physical capacity.

Compensate From Skinner & Vaughan, 1983:

Stricter daily routine

Shopping cart / walker / grips

Better lighting

Hearing aids &/or earplugs

Thresholds/cords out; rails and rug rubber undercoatings in

Home: Bolt, window locks;

key + info neighbor, relative

Outdoors: Stop—look—listen

Cope proactively.

Prolong active engagement—with life.

SVPH, A Private Society, Owns Four Senior-Citizen Residencesin and around Stockholm

Our inner-city residence is ‘Fredhällshusen’.

Part of an inner-city neigh-bor-hoodinStock-holm

FREDHÄLL, on the Kungsholmen island

A block

of two connected five-story apartment houses

Here, we are about 130 residentsin 110 apartments;couples living in larger apartments.

FACILITIES OUTDOORSFACILITIES OUTDOORS

An atrium-type inner yard

Swimming-pool house

Building 1

Building 2

Indoor

walkway

Street

Street

FACILITIES INDOORSFACILITIES INDOORS

• Rooms/areas for: – Billiards, TV & music, socializing– library/reading, sewing/weaving– masonry workshop, computers, – laundries; recycling; – wine cellar; visiting guests.

• Three dining halls. • Gym areas

– near pool + saunas

Winter outdoors in the inner yard

Summer

outdoors

Could we make for Could we make for summersummer INSIDE?INSIDE?

And

how is it

INSIDE?

2007: In summer, few 2007: In summer, few activities were offeredactivities were offered

• Already in June, it got pretty dead

at our residence

• I put up a notice on the bulletin board

• I suggested starting a Breakfast Club– And two meetings: July 3 and 4, – at 8 a.m. (too early!)

The Breakfast Club StartsThe Breakfast Club Starts

• Seven of us tenants met– in spite of the early hour

• The tenant I had booked to read a poem to us had gone to hospital with a stroke

• Instead, I found a 90-year-old to read a chatty newspaper column to us.

Process: The first club decisionsProcess: The first club decisions

• I had been unrealistic – Too frequent meetings– Too early in the day

• The others set me right• We decided to meet 1 hour later

already the next day, at 9-10 a.m.• And in stead of daily meetings,• we decided on weekly meetings.

ProcessProcess

• I quickly put up

bulletins about:

• Who the presenters were

• What they had presented

• What listeners had come

• What suggestions had come.

During a month with UPs (Unpretentious Presentations)

• (Dutch-treat style)

• … more and more

tenants came to the Club.

Margareta Modén

(video-

filming

2008—

2009)

August, 2007: August, 2007: Secret Guest #1Secret Guest #1

• I had lured an Associate Professor and retired bank CEO to give a 40-min. talk – (at 9:20, or he wouldn’t have come)

• Next year, this led to an exploratory study– And a research grant.

Fall, 2007: Secret Guests—at first

• Gradually, more could beGradually, more could be Pre-AnnouncedPre-Announced

• —Or Popped UP• The first two External Speakers were from New Zealand• Then came more External Speakers,

from Sweden, on:– Suicide Prevention– United Nations– Alcoholics Anonymous

• (not unnecessarily).

External speakers, guests, and visitors are especially important in a senior-citizen residence

Now, we have had 22 External Speakers• 28, counting Existential Speakers

• (And 2 Guest Program Leaders).

Presenters also came from Staff• Health promoter

− demo in gym

• Nutrition and kitchen heads

• Chief financial officer.

More tenants took partMore tenants took partMonth, 2007 From To

July 4 7

August 7 17

September 12 17

October 20 27

November 17 23

December 10 21

Early 2008:Early 2008: A Research GrantA Research Grant• A Swedish science foundation

had given me a small research grant

• A video camera was the first expense

• Another tenant, Margareta Modén, agreed to try filming and editing. – Later on, also Lars-Olof Ek helped us

• Participants were wary—at first

• Editing was the hardest work. I joined.

2008 (cont’d): 2008 (cont’d): • Prevention of Crime & Violence against us

• “The Pilot from the Cabin” (a scoop)– Who landed at Gottröra in 1991

– and saved 160 lives.

– The company cover-up

• Globetrotters: South America, etc.

• How I Got Cancer and Am Living with It– Audience record: 31 present

• First anniversary, in July.

2008:2008: ProcessProcessA Vote for summer: ONLY MONTHLY meetings—Still weekly for Fall and Winter

• A New Trio Takes on a New Theme: Life and Death .

Existential Issues 2008—Existential Issues 2008—20092009 Views of life and death

– Protestant priest– Jesuit– Jewish cantor– Imam– Buddhist nun

– Humanist [atheist]

Finale: Discussion.

Late 2008Late 2008

• TV company #1 – plans a series, “For All Ages”

– films our proceedings

– and records interviews with us participants

• Two Police officers:– On prevention of crimes against us

• A victim among us spontaneously tells of a theft

• Discussion: The Meaning of Life– TV company #2 films it

Christmas, 2008 Christmas, 2008 Extra Late BreakfastExtra Late Breakfast11!—noon Special11!—noon Special

– On the house: Glögg (mulled wine) & ginger snaps

– Declamation of long Christmas poem, from memory

– “The Booze Smuggler’s Christmas Eve”– The Christmas Gospel– We joined hands & wished each other – A Merry ChristmasNext meeting: January 13, 2009.

2009 Highlights2009 Highlights

• Mårten Lagergren: Health & development of old folks– A big national longitudinal project

(SNAC)

• Stroke & rehab

• Full 1-hour Dutch-treat presentations by old and new tenants.

Referring back: Research on “Successful Aging” • Keep (1) healthy, (2) able & (3) engaged

–The three Rowe & Kahn factors (1998)

• Compensate–Life-Span SOC Model

•Baltes & Baltes (1990)

• Cope proactively–Aspinwall & Taylor, 1997–Ouwehand, de Ridder & Benzing, 2007.

Research on proactive coping

The three preventive activities most employed by older adults – (identified by Kahana & Kahana, 1996)

• Health promotion

• Planning

• Helping others

Like Ouwehand & al, I prefer approach activities to avoidant activities.

Aims of Our Program Content: Add to Rowe & Kahn factors 1—3!

1. Lifestyle: Alcohol, food, depression and suicide prevention, etc …

2. Keep capacity: Improve memory, physical exercise, dialog skills, brain gym, coping with stress, etc …

3. Engage with life: “Life & death” group

Existence, philosophy, religion, and atheism …

4. Lace with:

Proactive coping, info & entertainment!

Among info on threats and potentials around us

• Preventing crime and violence against us old people• Orientation about organizations,

– especially available social services

• Engagement in social and political issues• Longitudinal studies of health and development of us old

folks (SNAC project, also on our island in Stockholm)• Natural science: Nuclear physics, chemistry, astronomy• The wider global world: Geography, politics, travel• Rehabilitation, e.g. after stroke• Alternative housing for the elderly.

And much else; simply, a varied ’smörgåsbord’, served by:

• Ourselves

(also UPs,

unpretentious Dutch-treat presentations)

• Many external presenters

• A few staff.

A little exploratory study started

Co-workers

Filming and editing:

Margareta Modén

Helping with filming and IT:

Lars-Olof Ek

Qualitative analysis

of participants’ statements:

Eva Rydberg Fåhraeus.

AttendanceAttendance

• I have been to 85 meetings out of 89 (96%)– For those, I made fairly good attendance records

• Tabulated and analyzed them

• We have a handful of regular presenters– A sense of commitment?

• Several handfuls of very faithful listeners

• Most do say something there

• Almost none avoid that.

We have asked for commentsWe have asked for comments

• “Why I never come back to the Club”

• “Why I did come back to the Club”

• “… anything else about the Club?”

No non-participant replied

We plan a questionnaire + brief interviews.

Participants’ ’ reasons for not coming back. Quotes:

• 9 am too early for me

• Prioritizing my mornings for myself

• Conflict with scheduled activities– including medical treatments.

Participants’ positive quotesParticipants’ positive quotes

2. Atmosphere– Welcoming

• informal,

– Warm, including– Unpretentious– Friendly

• Nice

– Modest– Fosters a sense

of community– Good humour– Warm

humaneness

1. Interesting content– About neighborhood– Exciting– Mental refill– New domains– Recognition factor (cf. below)

• Same respondent.

3. Regularity, habit– I am a creature of habit– A good habit to get up,

• Though tired in mornings

– Looking forward to Tuesdays– Recognition factor (cf. above)

Taking in Sail and …… Heading for the Sunset .

Sven RydbergFredhaellsg 12 /2404S-112 54 StockholmSweden+46 (0)8 656-0370

info@sven-rydberg.orgACT World Conference III, July 1--3, 2009; Enschede, Holland