Altruistic Activity and Older Adults in Long Term Care Facilities

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different types of activity on older adults in long term care facilities. Twenty-six female occupational therapy students visited older adults residing in local nursing facilities. Older adults were paired with student volunteers and participated in an altruistic activity, a non-altruistic activity, or weekly conversation with no activity. Responses to the dependent measures were also gathered from participants of a regularly scheduled group activity whose members did not interact with students. The dependent measures included the participants' scores on the revised Philadelphia Geriatric Center (PGC) Morale Scale, participants' scores on the Patient Description Scale, completed by each participant's student visitor, and the participants' rating of the activity using Osgood's Semantic Differential. Scores on the PGC Morale Scale indicated a significantly more positive attitude toward aging among individuals in the altruistic condition compared to those in the non-altruistic condition. Scores in this same morale factor were significantly lower in the altruistic activity condition compared to conversational and scheduled group activity conditions. As well, effects on attitude and agitation were more favorable in the conversational and regular group activity conditions compared to the non-altruistic condition. There were no significant findings in comparisons among groups based on the other dependent measures.