Overview

The investigators want to investigate the feasibility and transdiagnostic effectiveness of the Ronnie Gardiner Method (RGM) in a sample of Flemish psychogeriatric residential patients (≥60 years old) admitted to the Psychiatric Clinic of Alexianen Zorggroep Tienen. No control group will be used in this study, as every patient in the clinic is entitled to receive treatment. The investigators expect to observe significant improvements in the core executive functions (core EFs) by RGM participation. The investigators expect that the more sessions participants follow, the larger the effects will be. Given the strong connection between executive functions and emotion regulation, the investigators anticipate that strengthening the core EFs will in turn contribute to better emotion regulation. More specifically, the mediating role of core EFs in the relationship between the number of RGM sessions attended and improvement in emotion regulation is investigated. Given RGMs previously reported effects on quality of life, the investigators also expect to observe improved well-being. Additionally, the investigators want to examine to what extent positive experiences with RGM and temperament based personality types influence the effectiveness of the RGM training.

The RGM training will be organised twice a week for a period of 12 weeks. The training sessions will be provided by trained RGM-practitioners in the Psychiatric Clinic of the Alexianen Zorggroep Tienen. Each session will last at least 45 minutes. Core EFs, emotion regulation and well-being are evaluated pre-, mid- and post-RGM (at 6-week intervals) using a number of relevant instruments (i.e. questionnaires and neuropsychological tests). At baseline, the information and consent forms will be delivered to the patient and exclusion criteria will be checked using the MMSE and the patient file. Experiences with RGM training will be evaluated midway and post-intervention by means of a brief questionnaire developed by the research team. Personality type questionnaires (The Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS)/Behavioural Activation System (BAS) scales and the Effortful Control (EC) scale), which allow us to study whether a particular temperament based personality type is predictive of RGMs success, are routinely administered in the psychiatric clinic upon admission.

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Psychogeriatric inpatients aged 60+

Exclusion Criteria:

• Checking for moderate to severe cognitive impairments (exclusion criterion) using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE; Folstein, Folstein, & McHugh, 1975; Dutch version: Kok and Verhey, 2002), following exclusion criterion applies: a score of less than 21 on the MMSE (excluding dementia or other moderate to severe cognitive impairment)
• Not fluent in Dutch
• Having undergone surgery and/or chemotherapy in the last three months.