Self-help group therapy: The enhancement of self-care ability and quality of life among the elderly in Bali, Indonesia

Worldwide, the number of people aged 60 years and over has rapidly increased along with the increase in life expectancy. An aging population faces challenges in relation to improving self-care ability and quality of life. This study has aimed to identify the influence of self-help group therapy on the self-care ability and quality of life of elderly people in Bali, Indonesia. We employed a quasi experimental analysis using a pre-test and post-test. A total of 25 retired military officers participated in the study. Two questionnaires (WHO-BREF and WHOQOL-OLD) were adopted to compare the self-care ability and the quality of life results before and after the self-help group therapy was implemented. The data was analysed using an independent t-test. The results showed that the self-help group therapy had a significant effect on the improved self-care ability among the elderly with a mean difference of 0.2, t = 2.449 and p-value of 0.02. The self-help group therapy also significantly improved quality of life with a mean difference of 11.7, t= -8.476, and p-value of 0.00. Empowering the elderly and their families as well as the community is strongly recommended in order to establish effective self-help group therapy for the elderly