Effectiveness of the death-oriented intervention package based on Molavi's view & ACT treatment on death anxiety in the elderly in Isfahan

In addition to physical disabilities and chronic diseases, aging also affects behavioral and psychological problems. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of a death-oriented intervention package based on Molavi's view with ACT treatment on the rate of death anxiety in the elderly in Isfahan.

The design of this study was a quasi-experimental with two experimental groups and one control group and evaluation was done at the pre-test, post-test, and one-month follow-up. Sampling was done in several steps. In the first stage, among the areas of Isfahan, districts 8 and 2 were selected by the available sampling method. In the second stage, among the elderly in these areas who were not residents of the sanatorium, 36 people were purposefully selected based on the inclusion criteria. Then, these clients were randomly assigned to two experimental groups (12 people in each group) and a control group (12 people). The instrument used in this study was the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS), which has good validity and reliability. After administering the questionnaires, the research hypotheses were evaluated by repeated-measures analysis of variance. The

Comparing the mean scores of death anxiety in the study groups showed that there was a significant difference between the variable scores of death anxiety in the groups(p < 0.01). Therefore, it is concluded that the treatment based on acceptance and commitment and death-oriented intervention package based on Molavi's view has been effective in reducing the death anxiety of subjects. Also, there is no significant difference between the two intervention groups in influencing death anxiety.

In general, the results of this study can provide empirical support for acceptance and commitment-based therapy and the death-oriented intervention package based on Molavi's view on reducing death anxiety.