Introduction
Retirement and old age are related phenomena that overlap in time symmetry [1]. During and after retirement, the level of physical and mental pressure is evident and significant before retirement, which can become the basis of incompatibility and negative symptoms of retirement. In this case, a phenomenon with signs and symptoms such as the feeling of reaching the end of the line, possible emptiness and aimlessness, anxiety, depression, and fear of rejection is called Retirement Syndrome [2].
One of the things that can facilitate a person’s adaptation to retirement is self-care, which is a strategy to adapt to life events and stresses and can be used to maintain and improve health and well-being [3, 4].
This research examined the effect of psychosocial self-care training programs on retirement syndrome among teachers.
Methods
The research method was a semi-experimental two-group conducted on 64 retired people of education in 2020 in Gonabad city. After checking the entry and exit criteria, the research units were randomly assigned to two test and control groups. The tools used in this research included the first part of the demographic information questionnaire, such as age, gender, previous job, residence status, education level, marital status, work history, employment status, number of children, income status, spouse’s employment, years of service, and reasons of retirement.
The second part is the retirement syndrome questionnaire, which is based on the conditions of Iranian elderly retirees. The questionnaire has 40 questions, the validity and reliability of which have been confirmed by Bozorgmehri et al. [2] (Cronbach’s alpha of the whole questionnaire is 0.71). The response scale to the questionnaire is considered a 5-point Likert scale. The four dimensions in this questionnaire are the feeling of helplessness and failure, the sense of old age and emptiness, the emotion of effort and new orientation, and the feeling of confusion and conflict. The mean of each dimension was measured and analyzed separately. A higher score indicates more symptoms of retirement syndrome in a person [5].
 Psychosocial self-care training sessions were held weekly for 6 one-hour sessions for the intervention group. Educational content included definitions of retirement, misconceptions about retirement, stress management, leisure time, maintaining friendships, and social interactions.
 The participants completed the retirement syndrome questionnaire at the beginning and end of these sessions. After data collection, analysis was done using SPSS software v. 20. Descriptive and analytical statistics included independent t, paired t, Fisher’s test, one-way variance test, and Pearson’s correlation. A significance level of P<0.05 was considered.
Results
Out of 64 participants in this research, 36 were women, and 28 were men. The average age in the intervention and control groups was 50.18 and 50.73 years, respectively. The years of service in the intervention and control groups were 41.29 and 80.29 years, respectively. The income of most participants in the intervention group (7.64%) and the control group (3.63%) was sufficient. Also, the educational level in the intervention group (55.9%) and the control group (46.7%) mainly was a bachelor degree.
In this research, 4 main categories of retirement syndrome, including feelings of confusion and conflict, feelings of effort and new orientation, feelings of old age and emptiness, and feelings of helplessness and failure, had been investigated.
 Analytical findings and objectives of the research related to the effect of psychosocial self-care training on retirement syndrome are shown in Table 1.


According to the independent t-test results, no significant difference was observed in all areas of retirement syndrome in the two groups before implementing the intervention. Still, the average measurements of the retirement syndrome in the two groups after the intervention - except for the feeling of old age and emptiness - were statistically significantly different. The score for retirement syndrome in the intervention group was lower than the control group.
According to the independent t-test, no statistically significant difference was observed between the retirement syndrome scores of the two groups before the intervention; however, the average score of retirement syndrome in the two groups after the intervention and the difference in the average score of retirement syndrome of the two groups before and after the intervention had a statistically significant difference; This means that the training program has improved the retirement syndrome in the intervention group.
Discussion
The current study showed that holding face-to-face meetings and conducting psychological-social self-care training on retirement syndrome in retired educators positively reduced the symptoms of retirement syndrome. 
Concerning the dimensions of retirement syndrome, the mean scores of the feeling of effort, new direction, and feeling of helplessness and failure in the intervention group have changed significantly before and after. It indicates that by conducting psychological-social self-care training, people are encouraged to have renewed Efforts and direction, and they have experienced fewer feelings of helplessness and failure. The change in social attitude towards retirement creates new opportunities for personal development and improvement of individual conditions. Human growth and attention to talents and facilities combined with self-care and health create better conditions for adapting to retirees [6].
According to Nobahar et al.’s study, in case of obtaining the necessary preparation before retirement, nurses will have a better retirement, and the threats and risks related to retirement will be prevented [7].
Regarding the absence of a significant difference in the dimension of feeling old and useless, it seems that the content of this dimension revolves around hopelessness and the feeling of fruitlessness, which has a psychological nature [2], and its change requires longer interventions. The area of ​​feelings of old age and emptiness may not have created a statistical difference due to entering old age - in some people passing through the middle age crisis, and the fear of change and the anxiety of the person that he has spent half of his life.

Ethical Considerations
Compliance with ethical guidelines
This article is approved by Gonabad University of Medical Sciences with the code of ethics IR.GMU.REC.1398.102 has been approved.

Funding
This is taken from Fatemeh Mardani Chamazakhti masters thesis in the Department of Nursing, school of nursing, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad.

Authors' contributions
Determining research objectives, research and analysis and compilation: Fatemeh Mardani Chamazakhti, Hossein Ajam Zaibad, Leila Sadegh Moghadam; Editing and finalizing the article: Fatemeh Mardani Chamazkheti, Hossein Ajam Zaybad; Final reading and approval: All authors.

Conflicts of interest
The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgements
The researchers acknowledge and thank all the participants in the study.

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