SHORT-TERM COUNSELING GROUPS FOR PEOPLE WITH ELDERLY PARENTS

People with elderly parents met in five eight-week counseling groups to make decisions about the extent of responsibility they could comfortably assume for their parents and to work toward reaching a stage of filial maturity. Some issues were common to all groups - dependence, fear of one’s own aging, relationships with siblings, communication. Results indicate that this informal, supportive modality is effective in helping adult children make decisions and act upon them. © 1979 Oxford University Press.