Using a gratitude intervention to enhance wellbeing in older adults.

The increasingly ageing population includes a proportion of generally well older adults that may benefit from low-level psychological support to help maintain their wellbeing. A factor consistently regarded as integral to wellbeing is gratitude. The effect of a ‘Three good things in life’ gratitude diary on subjective wellbeing in non-clinically depressed older adults was examined in the context of hedonic and eudemonic wellbeing measures and perceived stress. This intervention has not been tested on older adults previously. Participants were 88 community living adults aged 60 years or over. Beneficial outcomes following the 14 day intervention were evidenced by improved post-test scores on hedonistic wellbeing (life satisfaction and positive and negative affect) with further improvement at 30 days post-test. In contrast, improvements occurred in eudemonic wellbeing and perceived stress immediately following diary completion but these were not fully sustained at 30 days post-test. The acceptability of online versus paper delivery of the self-directed intervention was compared. Outcomes varied with completion route, health status, baseline gratitude and perceived stress. This age group managed and many preferred online delivery, Gratitude diaries seem to be a cost-effective method of producing beneficial improvements in wellbeing for older adults.