Developing and Maintaining the Vitality of an Elderly Person (by the example of Socio-Psychological Training)

Introduction. The objective is to study the place and role of socio-psychological training in the lifelong education system for people of retirement age and to determine the impact of training on the development of the vitality of an elderly person. Materials and Methods. Human vitality test by E.A. Rylskaya; Geriatric depression scale by J. I. Sheikh and J. A. Jesavage; «Life Satisfaction» inventory by N. N. Melnikova; Health, Activity and Mood Test developed by V. A. Doskin, N. A. Lavrentieva, V. B. Sharay, M. P. Miroshnikov; Spielberger Ch. D. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; Self-Efficacy Scale by Schwarzer R., Jerusalem M.; group training method. The analysis of the experimental data was carried out by means of descriptive statistics. Results and Discussion. The study, using the example of training on developing the vitality of an elderly person, enabled the authors to argue the role and place of socio-psychological training in the lifelong education system for people of retirement age, and proved its effectiveness. According to the results, the training «Development of vitality of an elderly person» led to positive changes, precisely — increase in vitality indicators (ability to adapt, self-regulation, self-development, life sense), improvement of the general level of well-being of elderly people, their activity, mood and satisfaction with life in general. Conclusions. Socio-psychological training for the development of the vitality of an elderly person is a reliable tool in the post-work education system of elderly people and can be widely used in practical work with elderly people.