• The effect of meaning therapy on the feeling of loneliness of elderly women living in nursing homes :systematic review
  • Shiva Pirsabzi,1,* Elahe Sedigh,2 Zeinab sadat Moosavi fard,3
    1. Bachelor of Nursing student, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas branch, Iran.
    2. Bachelor of Nursing student, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas branch, Iran.
    3. Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas Branch, Iran.


  • Introduction: Many elderly people describe the aging period as a lonely period and refer to it as an unpleasant and scary experience that leads to severe psychological and physical problems. Feeling alone is one of the symptoms of depression and the cause of psychological damage in the elderly, especially the elderly living in nursing homes. There are many methods to remove the feeling of loneliness and increase the quality of life and mental health of the elderly, among which psychotherapy and especially meaning therapy can be mentioned. Group meaning therapy provides an opportunity for people to get to know, understand and free themselves from the obstacles that block their freedom.
  • Methods: The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of meaning therapy on the feeling of loneliness of elderly women living in nursing homes. Search method: The present study is a systematic review that was conducted using international and Persian databases between the years 2010 and 2021. Searching for articles using Tittle search using Scopus and SID, PubMed, IranMedex, Google scholar, Magiran using the keywords "nursing homes", "elderly women", "loneliness", "logo therapy", meaning therapy, loneliness, elderly women and nursing homes were done. Articles that met the criteria for inclusion in the research, including the type of RTC randomized clinical trial study, performing semantic therapy intervention specifically in elderly women living in nursing homes, the language of the article in English and Farsi) and access to the full text of the article were used. they took Review and analysis of the quality of articles based on PRIZMA was done by 2 researchers independently.
  • Results: From the 302 primary articles found, 99 articles were checked for the title and abstract due to repetitiveness, 162 articles due to the lack of intervention specifically for elderly women living in nursing homes, 76 articles due to the lack of meaningful therapy intervention independently. 71 articles were analyzed due to the type of study, 4 articles were excluded due to the irrelevant language, and finally 12 articles that evaluated the effect of semantic therapy on the feeling of loneliness of elderly women living in nursing homes. Most of the studies have pointed out the positive and significant effects of meaning therapy on reducing the feeling of loneliness of elderly women living in nursing homes.
  • Conclusion: Considering the positive effects of meaning therapy on the feeling of loneliness and isolation of elderly women living in nursing homes, it is recommended that such interventions be included in the design of care programs for elderly women living in nursing homes due to their ease of access, cheapness and uncomplicatedness.
  • Keywords: meaning therapy, feeling of loneliness, elderly women, nursing homes