their daily life, and 92.6% wished to continue in the program. the researchers suggest their results support the previously reported effects of increased life satisfaction and self-esteem. another study showed that after one session a week for 12 weeks of integrative reminiscence therapy, institutionalized older veterans in taiwan experienced significant increases in self-esteem and life satisfaction as compared to the control group. however, there is some evidence that rt can improve quality of life, cognition, communication and possibly mood in people with dementia in some circumstances, although all the benefits were small. more research is needed to understand these differences and to find out who is likely to benefit most from what type of rt. a recent cochrane review (2018) concluded that reminiscence therapy can improve quality of life, cognition, communication and possibly mood in people with dementia in some circumstances, although all the benefits were small. coping skills a few researchers have posited that the positive effects of reminiscence therapy are the result of increased coping skills. essentially, these researchers argue reminiscence therapy works because it increases the patient's ability to cope and deal with new situations effectively. self-positive reminiscences relate to improved psychological well-being through assimilative and accommodative coping, while self-negative reminiscences are associated with reduced psychological well-being through their negative relationships with both types of coping. assimilative and accommodative coping are protective mechanisms through which the self establishes continuity and meaning for one's life. assimilative coping aims to alter the life situation so that it concurs with one's preferences and objectives, helping people pursue personal goals despite limitations and obstacles. accommodative coping helps patients adjust their goals to accommodate constraints and impairments by revising values and priorities, constructing new meaning from the situation, and potentially transforming personal identity. instrumental reminiscence therapy facilitates two additional types of coping: problem focused coping and emotion focused coping. problem focused coping involves the individual in a goal-oriented effort to alter the situation with an analytic approach to solving the problem. emotion focused coping helps to create positive interpretations of stress by focusing on personal growth, helps the patient accept responsibility for one's own role in creating the stress and a desire to address this stress, and a distancing of the self from the stressful situation by not being too serious about it or looking for the positive aspects of the stress. depression many studies have looked at the effectiveness of reminiscence therapy in clinically depressed older adults. this research suggests reminiscence therapy is a very effective way to reduce depressive symptoms in the elderly. integrative and instrumental reminiscence therapy helped participants' affect improve over the long term by significantly decreasing depressive symptoms. another study found that after 12 weeks of integrative reminiscence therapy, institutionalized older veterans experienced significant decreases in depressive symptoms. older adults with depressive symptoms frequently reminisce as a way to refresh bitter memories, reduce boredom, and prepare for death from webster's taxonomy (as opposed to conversation, teach/inform, intimacy maintenance, problem solving, identity). due to this finding, the researchers concluded that if depressed older adults were already reminiscing, although in negative ways, they would make good candidates for reminiscence therapy since they would be comfortable with this activity. reminiscence therapy may even help alleviate depressive symptoms in patients also suffering from cancer. dementia researchers have also studied the effects of reminiscence therapy on older adults who suffer from dementia. in particular, studies have focused on two main benefits of reminiscence therapy for demented elderly: improved cognitive function and an improvement in quality of life (with a focus on improved emotions and overall happiness/mood). a study in 2007 looked at how reminiscence therapy affected both cognitive and affective function in 102 demented elderly. the study used established scales to determine the effect of reminiscence treatment using a pre- and post-test self-report design. for cognitive function, the study used the mini-mental state examination (mmse). for affective function the researchers used the geriatric depression scale short form (gds-sf) to determine the personal opinion of the demented elderly on their state of well-being and the cornell scale for depression in dementia (csdd) to analyze how their caregivers felt the patient was doing emotionally. the randomized study found significant improvements in both the mmse and csdd scores pre to post test, which is an encouraging sign that reminiscence therapy has a positive effect in helping both cognitive and emotional functions for the demented elderly. one of the questions in seeing improvement through reminiscence therapy is if the gains are because of the actual type of therapy being used (reminiscing about certain subjects) or if just the increase social interactions with peers causes the progress in cognition and overall mood. a study in 2008 examined this, using an experimental group treated with reminiscence therapy and a control group where they also had group conversations about every-day subjects. mmse was used to determine the level of dementia prior to the study, and like the 2007 study, examined the cognitive and affective effect of both the reminiscence and conversation therapies on the two groups. for cognition the groups were given a four-item verbal fluency test. for evaluating the participants’ mood, quality of daily life, and interest in the treatment, the study used the todai-shiki observational rating scale (tors), and for self-report on their overall happiness, the participants took the saint marianna hospital's elderly dementia patients’ daycare evaluation table. the results in cognition agreed with the 2007 study, with the reminiscence group recalling more words pre to post test. the control conversation group, however, saw a decrease in words recalled from pre to post test, supporting the argument that it is the actual reminiscing type of therapy that causes the positive cognitive effect, not just any conversation with peers. finally, the study also showed improvements in both tors and the daycare evaluation table scores for the reminiscence group over the control, meaning the participants were happier, had improved quality of daily life, and were more attentive to treatment, compared to pre-treatment and versus control group results. one study looked at reminiscence therapy for people with two types of dementia: alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. those with alzheimer's disease experienced significant improvement of withdrawal (so they withdrew less and interacted with others more) compared with the control group immediately after intervention. participants suffering from vascular dementia showed significant improvement of withdrawal and cognitive function compared with the control immediately after intervention and after a 6-month follow up. sustained intervention may be required to maintain these effects over time, especially in elderly people with alzheimer's disease whose improvement in withdrawal was no longer seen after 6 months. one study that explored the effects of reminiscence therapy on those diagnosed with dementia found that the participants who received reminiscence therapy experienced significantly higher well-being than participants who had been in either the goal-directed group activity or unstructured free time. a case-study of an 88-year-old man suffering from alzheimer's disease showed that he experienced improved cognitive functioning after individual reminiscence therapy. outcomes to evaluate the changes the patients who undergo reminiscence therapy various behavioural measures are used and recently, brain imaging has begun to be a part of the assessment after treatment. behavioural evaluation the most frequent characteristics used to measure the outcome of reminiscence therapy on the patients involved are: depressive symptoms psychological well-being ego-integrity meaning or purpose in life mastery cognitive performance social interactions neuroimaging in patients with vascular dementia, a significant increase in cortical glucose metabolism in bilateral anterior cingulate and in the left inferior temporal lobe, which are areas important for social interaction and remote memories, respectively. the use of single photon emission computed tomography on an elderly patient with alzheimer's disease revealed greater blood flow to the frontal lobe of the brain, an area that degenerates in those with this disease. this was coupled with positive changes in evaluated behavioural traits. influencing factors overall, positive outcomes seem to result from reminiscence therapy, although to differing degrees. the variability in the results is thought to be due to various factors, including the form of reminiscence therapy, the format of the sessions (group versus individual setting), the number of sessions completed, the health, age and gender of the individual, where the patient lives and if the individual had experienced any events that cause major changes in their life. an evaluation on the forms of reminiscence therapy found life-review therapy had the strongest positive effects on psychological well being when compared to other life review and simple reminiscence. life review has been thought to produce greater positive effects compared to reminiscence therapy, due to the increased organization of methods and purpose of this therapy. the benefits of reminiscence therapy occurs independent of the format of the therapy. improvement in behaviour occurs whether the therapy is conducted on an individual basis in small or large groups. the frequency and duration of the therapy program does not seem to alter the effectiveness of reminiscence. many specific groups have been targeted for studying the effects of reminiscence therapy and were evaluated using different measures based on their previously existing condition and the problems associated with it. those ranking higher in their depression rating showed a greater rate of improvement of their symptoms compared to those exhibiting less depressive symptoms before the therapy began, although improvements were seen across depression levels. across studies, reminiscence therapy positively influenced patients with dementia evaluated using various measures specifically in vascular dementia, cortical glucose metabolism increase in areas important for social interaction and remote memories. those with alzheimer's disease had improved blood flow to areas in brain, as previously discussed, and positive changes in evaluated behavioural traits. in patients with leprosy, the greatest positive effects were seen in those with depression but reminiscence therapy did not effect the stage of dementia or cognitive scores. reminiscence helps older populations cope with aging initially reminiscence was intended for older adults. however, this therapy my prove to be a valuable tool for adults at earlier stages of their life as well. in the elderly, improvement in satisfaction with life and self, self-esteem, increase in social involvement which led to an improvement in their ability to deal with social situations, lower loneliness and alienation. in addition, depressive symptoms, psychological symptoms, psychological well-being, ego-integrity, meaning of/purpose in life, mastery, cognitive performance, social integration, preparation for death all showed improvements after the therapy was concluded. at a follow up depression, other indicators of mental health, well-being, ego-integrity, cognitive performance, death preparation all remained to be improved from pre treatment. improvements comparable to those found in the elderly have been found in studies that included younger age brackets. improvements in depression occur in both females and males. comparative analysis between males and females on the effects of reminiscence therapy found no evidence for a difference in the success of the therapy between genders. reminiscence therapy has been conducted in groups composed of residents from group centres and those living in broader communities. recent analysis suggests that no differences in outcomes from reminiscence exist between the type of community that the individuals are living in during the time of therapy, which contradicts the earlier findings that those living in group homes or care centres benefited less from these programs. those who experienced various major life events showed improved mental stability including a decrease in depressive symptoms and anxiety. institutionalized elderly male veterans showed increased self-esteem and life satisfaction and a decrease in symptoms of depression who were involved in a 12-week reminiscence therapy program compared to those that were not. summary overall, reminiscence therapy is an inexpensive and potentially beneficial approach to helping the elderly age successfully and happily. it appears to provide them with a sense of overall life satisfaction and coping skills, and may also help to ameliorate the symptoms of depression and dementia.