OBJECTIVE: We examined the effects of engaging in the occupation-based intervention of life review through writing on expressed depressive symptoms as measured with the Geriatric Depression Scale in older adults residing in senior residences. METHOD: The study design was a randomized controlled trial that took place in four senior residences in New York City. Forty-five participants (23 treatment, 22 wait-list control) ≥ 65 yr old participated in the 8-wk, once-weekly autobiographical writing workshop, Share Your Life Story (Sierpina, 2002). RESULTS: Depressive symptoms were significantly less prevalent for the treatment group than for the control group after the 8-wk life review program (repeated-measures analysis of variance p = .03). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the Share Your Life Story writing workshop is an effective occupation-based intervention for occupational therapists to use with older adults who reside in senior residences.
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Chippendale et al. (2012) studied this question.
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