An interventional study of Reminiscence Therapy-Based Social Group Work in Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment, Psychological Well-Being and Quality of Life, sponsored by Melike Türkmen. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in Turkey (Türkiye). Open to participants aged 60 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-10.
Sponsored by Melike Türkmen · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care
The goal of this clinical trial is to find out whether a reminiscence therapy-based social group work intervention (AT-GSH) improves psychological well-being, quality of life, and cognitive status in older adults living in long-term institutional care who are at risk of mild cognitive impairment.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
The study plans to include 44 adults aged 60 years or older who meet the study's screening criteria. Participants will be randomly assigned to an intervention group or a wait-list control group.
Participants in the intervention group will attend a preparation meeting followed by eight weekly, 60-minute face-to-face sessions in closed groups of 6 to 10 members. The sessions will involve recalling, sharing, and reflecting on memories from different periods of life.
Researchers will compare this group with participants in the wait-list control group, who will continue receiving the institution's usual health, care, and social activity services.
Participants in the intervention group will complete assessments before the intervention, within 1 to 7 days after the final intervention session, and 12 weeks (plus or minus one week) after the final session. Participants in the wait-list control group will complete assessments during the same calendar weeks. The main comparison will focus on psychological well-being shortly after the intervention, taking initial psychological well-being scores into account.
After the final follow-up assessment, the wait-list control group will be offered the same intervention on a voluntary basis.
AT-GSH is a structured social group work intervention grounded in an existential social work approach. The intervention combines structured reminiscence activities with group interaction and reflection on personal life experiences. It is guided by social work principles, including self-determination, respect for human dignity, voluntary participation, and mutual aid.
The intervention will be delivered by the researcher, who is a social worker, at a nursing home affiliated with Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, Turkiye. Each closed group will first attend a face-to-face preparation meeting lasting approximately 30 minutes. This meeting is separate from the eight thematic intervention sessions.
The intervention consists of eight weekly, 60-minute sessions. Sessions 1 to 7 address childhood, school life, youth, working life, family life, social ties, and later life, respectively. Session 8 focuses on reviewing life experiences and the planned termination of the group process.
Each session includes opening, reminiscence and reflection, and closing phases. Photographs, objects, music, and other memory-triggering materials may be used to facilitate recall and discussion. Participants may choose which experiences they wish to share.
The intervention protocol was structured in accordance with the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist. Intervention fidelity will be documented using session implementation records and supported by face-to-face supervision after each session. Attendance at at least seven of the eight thematic sessions will be considered intervention completion.
Psychological well-being and quality of life will be assessed by an independent assessor who is unaware of group allocation. Cognitive status will be assessed by the certified researcher delivering the intervention, who is not blinded to group allocation.
The primary analysis will compare psychological well-being between the intervention and control groups shortly after the intervention while accounting for baseline scores. Additional analyses will examine psychological well-being at the 12-week follow-up and quality of life and cognitive status at both post-intervention and follow-up assessments.
2,193 studies on the registry are indexed under Psychological Well-Being; 728 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 44 is below the median of 110 across 1,796 interventional studies indexed under Psychological Well-Being.
Browse Psychological Well-Being studies →This is the only study on the registry with Melike Türkmen as lead sponsor.
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Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
The at-risk profile for mild cognitive impairment is a study-specific operational definition and does not constitute a clinical diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment.
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Short tests of memory and thinking, each scored out of 30. Lower scores suggest more difficulty; criteria give a range, either to include people with memory problems or to leave them out.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
MMSE and MoCA
Short tests of memory and thinking, each scored out of 30. Lower scores suggest more difficulty; criteria give a range, either to include people with memory problems or to leave them out.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants will attend a face-to-face preparation meeting followed by eight weekly, 60-minute reminiscence therapy-based social group work (AT-GSH) sessions delivered by a social worker in closed groups of 6 to 10 members.
Behavioral: Reminiscence Therapy-Based Social Group Work
Participants will continue receiving the institution's usual health, care, and social activity services and will not receive AT-GSH until the final follow-up assessment. After the final follow-up assessment, they will be offered AT-GSH on a voluntary basis.
AT-GSH is a structured, face-to-face social group work intervention grounded in existential social work. It is delivered by a social worker in closed groups of 6 to 10 older adults. A preparation meeting of approximately 30 minutes precedes eight weekly, 60-minute sessions. The first seven sessions address childhood, school life, youth, working life, family life, social ties, and later life. The final session focuses on reviewing life experiences and ending the group process. Sessions include opening, reminiscence and reflection, and closing phases. Open-ended questions and memory-triggering materials facilitate voluntary sharing and reflection. Intervention fidelity is documented through session records and supervision.
Also known as: AT-GSH
Psychological Well-Being Score at Post-Intervention
Psychological well-being will be assessed using the Turkish version of the eight-item Flourishing Scale (Psychological Well-Being Scale; Diener et al., 2010; Telef, 2013), rated on a 7-point scale. Total scores range from 8 to 56, with higher scores indicating greater psychological well-being. Post-intervention scores will be compared between the intervention and wait-list control groups, adjusting for baseline scores. The scale is administered by an independent assessor blinded to group allocation.
Time frame: Baseline (before randomization) and post-intervention (1 to 7 days after the final AT-GSH session; control group assessed during the same calendar week)
Psychological Well-Being Score at 12-Week Follow-Up
Psychological well-being will be assessed using the Turkish version of the eight-item Flourishing Scale (Psychological Well-Being Scale). Total scores range from 8 to 56, with higher scores indicating greater psychological well-being. Follow-up scores will be compared between the intervention and wait-list control groups, adjusting for baseline scores. The scale is administered by an independent assessor blinded to group allocation.
Time frame: Baseline (before randomization) and 12 weeks (plus or minus 1 week) after the final AT-GSH session; control group assessed during the same calendar week
Quality of Life Score at Post-Intervention and 12-Week Follow-Up
Quality of life will be assessed using the Turkish version of the 13-item Older People's Quality of Life Questionnaire-Brief (OPQOL-brief; Bowling et al., 2013; Caliskan et al., 2019), rated on a 5-point scale. Total scores range from 13 to 65, with higher scores indicating better quality of life. Scores will be compared between the intervention and wait-list control groups, adjusting for baseline scores. The scale is administered by an independent assessor blinded to group allocation.
Time frame: Baseline (before randomization), post-intervention (1 to 7 days after the final AT-GSH session), and 12 weeks (plus or minus 1 week) after the final AT-GSH session; control group assessed during the same calendar weeks
Cognitive Status Score at Post-Intervention and 12-Week Follow-Up
Cognitive status will be assessed using the Turkish version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-TR; Nasreddine et al., 2005; Selekler et al., 2010). Total scores range from 0 to 30, with higher scores indicating better cognitive performance. Scores will be compared between the intervention and wait-list control groups, adjusting for baseline scores. The test is administered by the certified researcher delivering the intervention, who is not blinded to group allocation.
Time frame: Baseline (before randomization), post-intervention (1 to 7 days after the final AT-GSH session), and 12 weeks (plus or minus 1 week) after the final AT-GSH session; control group assessed during the same calendar weeks.
Plan to share: No — Individual participant data will not be shared. The informed consent obtained from participants does not cover sharing individual-level data with other researchers, and the small sample recruited from a single institution increases the risk of re-identification. Aggregated results will be reported in the doctoral thesis and related publications.
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Nov 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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