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Abstract. Anxiety and depression are two of the indicators of the mental health condition of the elderly. The persistence of anxiety and the increase of its intensity can contribute to the decrease of the quality of life of the elderly placed in residential care. The study aimed to measure the intensity of anxiety of 42 elderly subjects from the Arad Care Center for the Elderly. The Hamilton Scale for Anxiety (HAM-A) was used as a method of measuring subjects' anxiety and it was applied in two installments; before and after the participation at the anxiety counseling program. For 10 counseling sessions, an attempt was made to form a positive way of thinking of the elderly, to raise awareness of the causes of anxiety and to find alternative activities to reduce anxiety. The results show that HAM-A is a good tool for measuring the intensity of anxiety of the elderly, but also for measuring the effectiveness of the social work counseling program implemented.
Keywords: elderly people, anxiety, social work counseling, residential care
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