Nursing Research

Margaret Wells, PhD, MS, RN, NP
Assistant Clinical Professor

Mental Health and Resilience in the Elderly

"Intervening when Low resilience is indicated to improve mental health status may help older adults maintain residency in their homes in the community — an ideal outcome for most."

"I really love the concept of resilience – recovering from adversity and gaining from the experience," comments Margaret (Meega) Wells, assistant clinical professor in the College of Nursing. High levels of resilience may help older adults age successfully, she says.

Wells selected that subject for her dissertation, completing her doctoral degree in nursing from Binghamton University's Decker School of Nursing in Fall 2007. "There were no quantitative studies on resilience with a population of rural older adults. I was looking for relationships between resilience and the physical and mental health status of elderly individuals living in rural areas."

"I used the Resilience Scale (Wagnild & Young, 1993) which is a 25-item instrument that was developed from a qualitative study of older women who exhibited resilient characteristics. The statements on the Resilience Scale address factors such as self-reliance, perseverance, and having a balanced perspective of life." Her sample includes 106 adults aged 65 or over who live in rural communities in New York State.

Wells found that this sample of rural older adults had high levels of resilience. "The mean score on the Resilience Scale was 149 and scores over 146 are considered high."

Wells noted that mental health was strongly correlated with resilience. In addition, resilience was associated with physical health status and the number of social networks, although not as strongly.

"Nurse practitioners in rural areas are in ideal positions to help their older adult patients become more resilient," Wells observes. "Screening patients for levels of resilience and intervening when low levels are found is something that nurse practitioners can do. They can ensure that the physical healthcare needs are being met and refer patients to mental health providers for counseling or treatment of depression when appropriate."

"Intervening when low resilience is indicated to improve mental health status," Wells asserts, "may help older adults maintain residency in their homes in the community — an ideal outcome for most."

Wells teaches courses in Advanced Health Assessment, Trends in Practice and Healthcare, and Advanced Nursing Research.