The Development and Validation of the Psychological Empowerment Scale for Older People

Abstract

Empowerment is a central paradigm in the care for older people. Social work requires measuring instruments to be able to meaningfully justify its efforts and interventions. This study aims at the validation of the Psychological Empowerment Scale for Older People, a measuring instrument build on this operationalization. The PESOP was administered to a large sample and completed by 398 older people in the Netherlands. The results provided evidence for a single-factor scale consisting of 17 items, with strong reliability and validity scores. The PESOP provides social work with a tool by which to measure the empowerment of older service users.