Positive psychology helps to heal
One of the important periods of life in the old age positive psychology applications will affect the well-being of the elderly and can improve the quality of they life, say Lecturer Remziye Keskin and Zeynep Gümüş, putting it forward with the project they carry out in the Hospice. They also point out that the applications in this field should be expanded.
Worldwide, October 1 is called World Elderly Day in order to raise awareness about old age and elderly health in parallel with the growth rate of elderly population.
Üsküdar University Deputy Director Remziye Keskin said ‘According to the World Health Organization (WHO) chronological classification, old age covers 65 years of life and over. With the increase in the speed of scientific developments, the average human life is prolonged and the elderly population is increasing’ Health and social problems increase in old age
Doctor Remziye Keskin said, ‘Although the average age of the society means an increase in human life, the decrease in physiological capacity, loss of social roles and changes in the emotions, perceptions and behaviors of individuals also mean that health and social problems will increase.Aging changes trigger each other, especially psychological aging accelerates and deepens these changes’
Positive Psychology increases well-being
Stating that the positive psychology field can offer solutions for the possible problems that will arise in old age, Remziye Keskin noticed that ‘Positive Psychology can be defined as a branch of science that focuses on the strengths and virtues of people and aims to contribute to their lives in a more fulfilled and quality way and to contribute to their personal development.This definition does not mean that Positive Psychology ignores the negative aspects of life. On the contrary, Positive Psychology focuses on how to use one's strengths to cope with one's weaknesses. It aims to adapt people to a more positive and realist perspective. Research has shown that Positive Psychology-oriented practices increase individual's psychological well-being, life satisfaction and positive affect’.
Can provide multi-storey to improve the quality of life
Emphasizing that social aging coming from the demographic transformation in the world, health and social policies is an important issue. Remziye Keskin said, “Today, an increasing number of elderly populations and the social change that develops due to this have brought about a new social structure. We believe that Positive Social Psychology will support this social structure and contribute to improving the quality of life of elderly individuals’.
Positive Aging Project gave good results
the Head of Department of Elderly Care Services Program of Üsküdar University Health Services High-School Zeynep Gümüş stated that as the University they have implemented the Positive Aging Project in partnership with a Hospice in order to support the old age with the teachings of Positive Psychology. Gümüş gave the following information about the project they received positive results:
‘A society with a positive psychology perspective is thought to be happier. Based on this idea, we developed the ‘Positive Aging’ project in partnership with Üsküdar University and Hospice in order to support the old age with specific and natural problems with the teachings of Positive Psychology. Within the scope of this project we conducted interactive psychology trainings and practices with 16 Hospice residents over 65 age for a total of five weeks two sessions and 45 minutes each, ones a week,covering the teachings of positive psychology. Our project using the teachings of Positive Psychology; It aimed to raise awareness of elderly people, to direct them to be more socially active, to enable participants to develop positive self-perception, life satisfaction, effective communication and stress coping skills, and to draw public attention to the issue. At the end of our Positive Aging event, as expected, we found that participants emotional situation changed positively, that they were more social and that they communicate more effectively’.
