Faculty Bibliography

As is true of the general population, older adults receive physical rehabilitation for deficits resulting from injury or disease. During the rehabilitation process, however, cognitive status and psychological well-being may be neglected and thus deteriorate during prolonged hospitalization. A group psychotherapy intervention utilizing insight and reminiscence was developed to offset the negative effects of institutionalization and to maintain or promote those qualities of survivorship (functional independence, self-determination and self-reliance) necessary for the geriatric patient's adjustment upon discharge to the community. Older adults were selected from those patients currently awaiting discharge from a rehabilitation hospital. All participants were pre- and post-tested by independent examiners with the Community Competence Scale. The findings suggest that this time-limited group intervention is important in the promotion of functional independence and further suggest that this approach can be modified to maximize the functioning of less competent, older adults

Thirty individuals with subjective tinnitus aurium of a variety of types and severity were treated with a matching-to-sample feedback procedure. Following initial evaluation measures, the participants' experienced tinnitus sounds were reproduced audiometrically on all characteristics and were presented to them in the noninvolved ear or in both ears when the tinnitus was binaural. This experimental sound was then reduced in 5 decibel (dB) steps within sessions, and participants had the task of concentrating on reducing the loudness of their tinnitus until a match was achieved between it and the experimental sound at each new dB level. Results showed an overall highly significant difference in dB levels from baseline to final training session. Nearly all participants demonstrated a marked reduction in tinnitus loudness, with 84% reducing it by 10 dB to 62 dB and several eliminating it completely. Individual and pathological variables played no role in training or outcome. Our approach appears to have major advantages over other tinnitus treatment strategies in that it provides direct, significant relief and gives the patient the psychological benefit of gaining control over the problem