Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT) on Mental Health and Cognitive Function in elderly people with Age- Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD)

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on mental health and cognitive function in elderly patient with Age- Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD(.This study is a Quasi- experimental design using pre- test, post- test and control group. The population of the study was from elderly people with Age- Related Macular Degeneration admitted to Noor- E- Didegan Karaj.28 elderly people were selected as sample of the study by non- random (available) method and randomly divided into two groups as experimental and control groups. The treatment plan of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) was developed in eight 120- minutes sessions and Group counseling was carried out.Findings:The results were analyzed through Recurrent Measurement Analysis of variance as well as LSD functional tests. The findings revealed that the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment (ACT) was significant on mental health variable in general health, subscale somatic symptoms anxiety, insomnia, and depression; whilst was not significant in subscale of social dysfunction. The results also showed that the therapeutic effects of this approach were maintained in follow- up sessions. The mentioned treatments have also shown no effect on cognitive function.According to the findings of the study, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can be used for mental health enhancement in elderly people with Age- related Macular Degeneration.Key words: Acceptance & Commitment therapy (ACT),Mental Health, Cognitive Function elderly,Age- Related Macular Degeneration ( ARMD).