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Isolation and loneliness: Help the Aged policy statement 2008
- Author:
- HELP THE AGED
- Publisher:
- Help the Aged
- Publication year:
- 2008
- Pagination:
- 7p.
- Place of publication:
- London
New research from Help the Aged has revealed that 1.4 million older people in the UK feel socially isolated and nearly 300,000 have gone a full month in the last year without speaking to any family or neighbours. This added to the fact that more than 1.25 million older people are often or always lonely paints a bleak picture of what life is like for many pensioners today. In an effort to tackle these issues head-on, Help the Aged is today launching a new fundraising campaign called ‘1 is the saddest number’ which aims to help end isolation and loneliness among older people. The Charity’s first focus is Christmas as feelings of loneliness can be even more acute during traditional holiday times. Help the Aged is aiming to reach out to 25,000 older people across the UK by providing them each with a Christmas meal to enjoy with friends at their local day centre over the festive period. After Christmas, the Charity will use donations to launch its Volunteering Programme in Spring 2008, which will include befriending opportunities to directly target the chronic loneliness and isolation suffered by many older people across the UK on an ongoing basis
The experience of social and emotional loneliness among older people in Ireland
- Authors:
- DRENNAN Jonathan, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 28(8), November 2008, pp.1113-1132.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
This paper reports a study of the risk factors for social and emotional loneliness among older people in Ireland. Using the ‘Social and Emotional Scale for Adults’, the social and emotional dimensions of loneliness were measured. Emotional loneliness was conceptualised as having elements of both family loneliness and romantic loneliness. The data were collected through a national telephone survey of loneliness in older people conducted in 2004 that completed interviews with 683 people aged 65 or more years. It was found that levels of social and family loneliness were low, but that romantic loneliness was relatively high. Predictors for social loneliness were identified as greater age, poorer health, living in a rural area, and lack of contact with friends. Living in a rural setting, gender (male), having a lower income, being widowed, no access to transport, infrequent contact with children and relatives and caring for a spouse or relative at home were significant predictors of family loneliness. Romantic loneliness was predicted by marital status, in particular being widowed. Never having married or being divorced or separated were also significant predictors for romantic loneliness.
Reaching isolated older people
- Author:
- CONTACT THE ELDERLY
- Publisher:
- Contact the Elderly
- Publication year:
- 2008
- Pagination:
- 25p.
- Place of publication:
- London
A recent independent survey undertaken by Contact the Elderly provides strong evidence that an increasing number of frail older people have become socially excluded through circumstances of diminished health and family situation. Even when an older person has been identified and included on welfare lists, resources are limited and loneliness is not considered a priority condition Other key observations were that 82% of respondents felt they had something to look forward to during the week; 50% said their general health had improved as a result of the group; 26% said they had visited the doctor less often since joining the group; 65% had made new friends and 51% felt part of the community.
Staying connected: the lived experiences of volunteers and older adults
- Authors:
- PENNINGTON Jarred, KNIGHT Tess
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing International, 32(4), December 2008, pp.298-311.
- Publisher:
- Springer
- Place of publication:
- New York
Many housebound older adults lack meaningful social relationships. This Australian study explores the phenomenon of social connectedness in the volunteer-older adult relationship through the experiences of frail and isolated older adults and volunteers. This relationship is conceptualised as a journey whereby each traveller plays an active role in its direction and outcome. When volunteers maintain the boundaries of the relationship through structured conversation and visits, it is described as friendly. Transgressing the boundaries involves doing extra for the elder and is both a function of the dyad’s compatibility, and the volunteer’s sense of ongoing agency and lack of elder expectations. The sense of social connectedness inherent in these relationships often feels like that of friendship or family, and these relationships are perceived as meaningful and close for both parties. Social connectedness in family-like relationships is a function of the playing out of an otherwise missing family role. However, if volunteer volition is compromised, this results in feelings of obligation and responsibility, similar to the dynamic between blood relatives. Participants’ narratives suggest that when the boundaries of the relationship are mutually negotiated, this serves to strengthen the relationship’s socioemotional quality, and potential for the continuity of the unique sense of social connectedness that has already been established.
Loneliness and the health of older people
- Authors:
- O'LUNANAIGH Conor, LAWLOR Brian A.
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 23(12), December 2008, pp.1213-1221.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The intense focus on major psychiatric disorders in both contemporary psychiatric research and clinical practice has resulted in the relative neglect of less definable constructs such as loneliness and how such entities might impact on health outcomes. The purpose of this review is to raise awareness among physicians and psychiatrists of the medical impact and biological effects of loneliness as well as making the argument that loneliness should be a legitimate therapeutic target. Using Pubmed a search was conducted for research and review papers looking at loneliness as a construct, how it is measured and its health effects. Relevant papers are reviewed and their main findings summarised. Loneliness has strong associations with depression and may in fact be an independent risk factor for depression. Furthermore loneliness appears to have a significant impact on physical health being linked detrimentally to higher blood pressure, worse sleep, immune stress responses and worse cognition over time in the elderly. There is a relative deficiency in adequate evidence based treatments for loneliness. Loneliness is common in older people an is associated with adverse health consequences both from a mental and physical health point of view. There needs to be an increased focus on initiating intervention strategies targeting loneliness to determine if decreasing loneliness can improve quality of life and functioning in the elderly.
Addressing loneliness in later life
- Authors:
- PETTIGREW Simone, ROBERTS Michele
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 12(3), May 2008, pp.302-309.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Social and solitary pastimes with the potential to ameliorate the experience of loneliness among older individuals were investigated for the purpose of informing future interventions designed to reduce the negative consequences of social isolation. Nineteen individual interviews were conducted with Australians aged 65 years and older. Several pastimes were described by interviewees as instrumental in determining whether the increasing social isolation they experience in older age results in feelings of emotional isolation and thus of loneliness. The specific behaviours that were found to ameliorate loneliness included utilising friends and family as an emotional resource, engaging in eating and drinking rituals as a means of maintaining social contacts, and spending time constructively by reading and gardening. Specific recommendations are provided for interventions designed to prevent and treat loneliness among older people.
Alleviating loneliness among frail older people - findings from a randomised controlled trial
- Authors:
- OLLONQVIST Kirsi, et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 10(2), May 2008, pp.26-34.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Loneliness among frail older people predicts increased use of health services, early institutionalisation and increased mortality. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of a new rehabilitation model on loneliness among frail older people. The main part of the rehabilitation was based on group physical activities such as exercises in a sitting position, pool exercises, or resistance training in the gym. This randomised controlled multi-centre trial with a 12-month follow-up was implemented in Finland. A total of 708 community-dwelling people aged 65+ years with progressively decreasing functional capacity participated. Participants were randomly allocated to the intervention group (n = 343) or to the control group (n = 365). The intervention consisted of a network-based group rehabilitation programme designed for frail older people. A 0.9-fold decrease in the proportion of participants feeling lonely was observed in the intervention group and a 1.1-fold increase in the control group. The results suggest that a physically orientated rehabilitation programme may reduce emotional loneliness.
The effects of loneliness on telemarketing fraud vulnerability among older adults
- Authors:
- ALVES Linda M., WILSON Steve R.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, 20(1), 2008, pp.63-85.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Twenty-eight older telemarketing fraud victims completed a questionnaire assessing loneliness and other variables relating to fraud vulnerability. Victims tended to be male, divorced or separated, college educated, and between 60 and 70. The data show a significant association between age and marital status on the one hand and loneliness on the other. Although the study is limited, it provides some useful pointers for social service providers. Purely educational approaches are unlikely to work, and preventive strategies designed to address loneliness are needed. Staff also need additional training in the detection and reporting of telemarketing fraud as a form of elder abuse. (Copies of this article are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Centre, Haworth Press Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580).
Virtue is its own reward? Support-giving in the family and loneliness in middle and old age
- Authors:
- DE JONG GIERVELD, DYKSTRA Pearl A.
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 28(2), February 2008, pp.271-287.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
Gerontologists have emphasised that older adults are not only recipients of support but also important support providers. Using data from the first wave of the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study of 727 middle-generation adults aged 45 to 79 years, this study examined the associations between loneliness and giving support up, across and down family lineages. Overall, the findings were consistent more with an altruism perspective, that giving brings rewards, than with an exchange perspective, which emphasises the costs of giving support. The results showed an inverse relationship between the number of generations supported and loneliness, and that those engaged in balanced exchanges with family members in three generations (parents, siblings and children) were generally the least lonely. As regards the direction of support giving, the findings showed that the association between giving support and loneliness was insignificant if the support was for parents, negative for support to siblings, and positive for support to children. Imbalanced support exchanges were differentially associated with loneliness, and depended on the type of family relationship involved. Non-reciprocated support made parents more vulnerable to loneliness, whereas non-reciprocated giving in sibling ties was associated with low levels of loneliness. Imbalanced support giving in relationships with parents was not associated with loneliness.
Social well-being in extra care housing: an overview of the literature
- Author:
- CALLAGHAN Lisa
- Publisher:
- Personal Social Services Research Unit
- Publication year:
- 2008
- Pagination:
- 29p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Canterbury
This literature review was carried out as part of a project investigating social well-being in extra care housing. An interim report from the project, describing the methodology and reporting some very early findings, is also available. The aim of this literature review was: to identify how social well-being has been defined in the literature; to identify what factors affect social well-being; and to identify how social well-being could be measured in the present study. For the older people taking part in this project, social well-being is likely to be crucially influenced by moving to a housing-with-care setting. Therefore, this review focuses on the effect of environmental characteristics as well as both concrete and perceptual social factors on well-being. Searches were conducted of a large number of databases and of the internet. Social well-being is defined as the area of overall well-being involving social relationships, social participation, social networks, and social support. In terms of environmental characteristics, the literature covers the areas of physical design, approach taken to activity provision within the housing and care setting, links with the local community, and staffing and care. The literature on social factors includes friendships and social support, loneliness and isolation, social activity and participation, and social climate.