2024 Robert J. Kohlenberg Research Award Grant

2024 Grant Recipient:

Serena Wong, PhD, Adjunct Faculty, Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario (Canada) and her co-investigators; Frankie Lui, Lisa Van Bussel and Lynette Markoff, are proud to be the recipients of the 2024 ACBS Robert J. Kohlenberg Research Grant to complete a research project on Targeting Loneliness: A Novel Application of Awareness, Courage, and Love Groups for Geriatric Psychiatry Patients.

Loneliness is a key predictor of death, dementia, physical decline, and poorer mental health in older adults. Geriatric psychiatry patients are at greater risk for the experience of loneliness. Reviews of loneliness interventions say that solutions need to have a clear theoretical basis and more randomized trials are required. Furthermore, researchers have stressed the importance of “a rich and forgiving social environment” for lonely individuals to address unhelpful social cognitions. Interventions rooted in behavior change theory also seem most promising. 

Developed by Dr. Mavis Tsai, Awareness, Courage, and Love Groups (ACL) represent a powerful, evidence-based approach to alleviate loneliness and enhance social connection. ACL sprung from functional analytic psychotherapy, which is a transdiagnostic approach grounded in functional contextualism and radical behaviorism, wherein the mechanism of change is therapeutic social reinforcement. Put simply, these groups are geared to alleviate suffering in a growing population of older adults with mental health diagnoses. 

We recently adapted ACL groups for geriatric psychiatry patients, with positive results based on informal patient feedback and staff observations. Our adaptations include the use of visual cues, aging-related themes, listening prompts, shorter meditations, and a simplified discussion process. Our interdisciplinary team comprises psychology, social work, nursing, and psychiatry. Our goals are to examine feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy in both outpatient and inpatient arms of this study, using randomized waitlist and active control group methodologies. In other words, we want to see if ACL “works” for a new geriatric population. In addition to tracking patient retention, which has so far been at 100%, we are collecting session feedback and assessing program satisfaction both qualitatively and quantitatively. Outcomes include life satisfaction, loneliness, social closeness, relational health, and the experience of sacred moments in group. If these groups work, we can support dissemination and cultivate communities of connection worldwide for lonely seniors.