Piloting the Acceptability, Practicality and Potential Benefits of Telehealth Dignity Therapy for Community-dwelling Older Adults

Abstract

Older adults appear to experience high levels of sub-clinical emotional distress. Past literature has predominantly focussed on ameliorating suffering in individuals with diagnosed mental illnesses, while neglecting research investigating online therapies for enhancing wellbeing in community-dwelling older adults. A potential therapy might be Dignity Therapy, a brief psychotherapy originally designed to be delivered face-to-face for terminally ill patients. We piloted a Telehealth Dignity Therapy (TDT) program and tested its acceptability (e.g., satisfaction), practicality (e.g., time spent completing TDT), and the potential benefits for participants. Five community-dwelling older adults were recruited and completed TDT. Participants completed surveys on their satisfaction with TDT. Time spent completing TDT was recorded. We interviewed participants to identify the potential benefits of TDT; their responses were analysed with qualitative methods. All five participants successfully completed the study and reported high levels of satisfaction with TDT. Levels of acceptability and practicality were similar to another online Dignity Therapy study. Participants reported several benefits including: a chance to inscribe their legacy, a deeper connection with others, triggering new self-insight, a strengthened view of self, and heightened acceptance and self-compassion. TDT appears to be acceptable and practical, and provided numerous qualitative benefits for participants. These findings suggest that Dignity Therapy is suitable is suitable to be conducted online and advantageous for community-dwelling older adults without life-limiting illnesses. Further larger-scale, quantitative research on TDT needs to be completed to better ascertain its effectiveness and feasibility.