Page 470 - Encyclopedia of Nursing Research

REMINISCENCE n 437

as oral history where the purpose is to hear study for a graduate nursing student stating
a life story for history’s sake rather than to she was not as skilled as a psychiatrist.
hear the story to benefit the individual telling The lack of pertinent theories has also R
the story. affected the work in life review. But as other
Reminiscence work was first recognized disciplines became involved in reminiscence
and described by Butler (1963) in a seminal work, most notably psychology and social
article that caused other health care provid- work, there have been definitive gains in the
ers to look more closely at the phenomena of growth and sophistication of the research.
reminiscence, particularly in older people. For example, many researchers see a rela-
Since Butler, many articles have been writ- tionship between therapeutic recall and the
ten by clinicians who happened on reminis- writings of Erickson (1950) and so have used
cence quite by chance and thus wanted to Erikson’s work as a theoretical frame. They
share their experiences and techniques with see life review, particularly, as a means of
others. Though interesting, these first manu- achieving Erikson’s eighth stage of integ-
scripts did not demonstrate knowledge of rity. For nurses, Martha Rogers can provide a
the literature or awareness of the work that framework. The important thing is that the-
was going on around them, giving the manu- ory is beginning to guide the research.
scripts less impact than they would have had Over time, researchers began to define
as informed reports. Nurses who have used and describe their interventions so others
life review and reminiscence can under- could replicate their work. To bring some
stand this situation because often, when they clarity to the field, Webster (2003) created a
used reminiscence themselves, they were reminiscence function scale to describe ways
impressed with the outcomes and improve- of reminiscing. Presently there is a great deal
ment in their clients and wanted to share of interest in how these reminiscence func-
their new knowledge with others. tions work within the person and in how
The early research was often poorly they become therapeutic. A group from the
designed. Very few studies had a theoretical Netherlands has conducted studies look-
basis. Authors that published clinical reports ing at the intervention of reminiscence as a
often did not describe their interventions search for new meaning in life. They have
fully so that the reader was not sure what was gone on to publish even more work, describ-
responsible for what outcomes. One study ing their intervention clearly and differenti-
might examine a 1-hour reminiscence ses- ating it from others, making the process of
sion, whereas another might look at a 6-week replication clearer and easier for those who
approach to remembering the past and then follow. Their greatest contribution is a meta-
try to compare them as the same interven- analysis of the effects of reminiscence on
tion. The interventions were often carried psychological well-being and depression in
out singly or in groups without differenti- older people (Bohlmeijer, Roemer, Cuijpers, &
ating one from another. The outcome mea- Smit, 2007). We are at a point where we can
sures were often unsophisticated and had say that a certain type of reminiscence is
little reliability and validity, again making it effective in reducing depression and we are
hard to compare one outcome with another. closer to figuring out how the positive effect
It was also said that recalling the past might happens.
cause depression, making many clinicians Although the research concerning
and researchers wary of using reminiscence reminiscence and life review is still in its
as a therapeutic tool and also making it dif- adolescence, not in its infancy, nurse clini-
ficult to get a reminiscence study approved cians continue to encounter reminiscence
by an institutional review board. As a matter by chance and adopt it as an intervention,
of fact, one board refused to approve such a without benefit of knowing the research and