Customer Reviews

Group Work With Elders: 50 Therapeutic Exercises for Reminiscence, Validation, and Remotivation

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I would highly rocommend this book for those who work with people in nursing or retirement homes. I found this book very helpful in getting older adults to express their feelings and share stories from their pasts. This helps to build community with the other people in the group. It also helps build self esteem and friendships with others. Ms. Link has done an excellent job of presenting opportunities through these exercises to help chaplains, ministers, social workers, etc. to be able to offer encouragement and help to our older adults. This book is well worth the investment!

This book provides a good starting point for reminiscence groups with older adults. I find many of the exercises, however, to be infantilizing and in need of modification before use in a group.

Some good ideas- very short lasting group activities. Childish worksheets included, seem more appropriate for developmentally delayed than older adults. Most adults cognitively impaired enough for these to be appropriate for would not be able to write or offended by coloring.

I bought this book for working with geriatrics in a nursing home and found it to be a perfect way to engage my clients who were resistant to meeting with a social worker. The worksheets were non-threatening and stirred up conversations about the past which they seemed to enjoy talking about. Currently, I am using the same book with adults coping with symptoms of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder at a partial day program in a group format. I have found this book to be PERFECT for that population also. The words are large and the sentences are short enough so that completing the sentence is an obtainable goal for clients who normally struggle with lengthy directions and discussions. The pictures on the worksheet are perfect for those clients that are not able to spell words or who aren't interested in writing. Eventually, I can engage those clients to share even without them writing on the worksheet. The objective/goal of the group is already written for the therapist , as well as suggestions and fine points for the group discussion. I LOVE this book! I'm looking for another one just like it because I'm almost done with the 50 exercises. Great Ideas! Thank you Ann L. Link!

I agree with some of the other reviewers. This book provides good jumping-off points for group discussions. But all of that info could fit into a few pages containing plain lists of topics. The worksheets are much too childish, even for my lower functioning patients.

The exercises in here are a bit too child-like in my opinion. I think this might be helpful for someone doing art therapy or recreational type groups but its hard to take anything meaningful out of this for use in psychotherapy.

Wonderful resource for those who work in nursing homes and with an elderly population. Great exercises to get people talking. Can be adapted for use for individual sessions as well.

Clinicians and caregivers alike will find this a very useful and helpful tool.