Gerontology & Geriatric Research

Abstract

How to Arrange the Remembrance of Own Life for the Benefit of Successful Aging

Andrzej Brodziak, Alicja Różyk-Myrta and Agnieszka Wolińska

The development of medicine caused that for some time taking with patients is not only to establish the diagnosis but also often to determine the state of health, to assess their quality of life and environmental determinants of health. In the field of geriatrics conversation with the patient has other additional targets. We try to assess the cognitive performance of patients and determine the risk factors which lead to the impaired mental capacity and to estimate so-called resilience, which has impact on the positive course of aging. One of the factors contributing to the favorable course of aging is so called "balanced perception of own life". Therefore, the authors decided to formulate rules to support patients in obtaining a "balanced, memorized assessment of own live." For this purpose, they discuss first several types of data sets related to the course of personal life and then formulate the general guidelines how to assist the patient to reorganize memories, so that remembered autobiography could have a positive connotation. The authors argue that the guidance provided to patients in this respect are, in fact use of some type of cognitive behavioral therapy. Since the use of these methods is very time consuming they propose their own supplementary method acting by recommendation of so-called "therapeutic tasks".