Effect of a Psychological Empowerment Program on Life Satisfaction and Attitudes Towards Aging in Older Women Living in Tehran, Iran

Old age is a critical period in life. Due to advances in technologies and improvement in healthy conditions, the number of aged population is increasing. Hence, it is necessary to pay attention to their life satisfaction and attitudes towards aging. The present study aims to assess the effectiveness of a psychological empowerment program on life satisfaction and attitude towards aging in older women living in Tehran, Iran.

The study population consists of all women aged 60-70 years referred to a charity foundation in Tehran, Iran in 2020. Of these, 24 women were selected by a convenience sampling method. They were randomly assigned to the intervention (n=12) and control (n=12) groups. Using a pre-test/post-test design, the elderly first completed the life satisfaction index-Z and the attitude towards aging questionnaire. Then, the experimental group received the psychological empowerment program at 8 sessions. After the intervention, the questionnaires were completed again by both groups. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to analyze the collected data in SPSS software, version 19. 

This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Islamic Azad University of Arak Branch (Code: IR.IAU.ARAK.REC.1400.027).

There was a significant difference in life satisfaction (F=9.673, P=0.006) and attitudes towards aging (F=8.385, P=0.009) between the two groups. The psychological empowerment program significantly improved life satisfaction and attitudes towards aging in older women. 

The psychological empowerment program is effective in improving life satisfaction and attitude towards aging in older women living in Tehran. It can be used by experts in the fields of counseling, geriatrics, psychology, and health.