How to overcome Loneliness in elders

The extent of social isolation amongst older people has emerged as a major concern for health and social policy. Although the social and health outcomes of social isolation are well documented, evidence regarding the prevention of isolation in later life remains scarce. This article addresses this by presenting the findings from a literature review focusing on the identification, assessment, prevention, and intervention strategies relevant to social isolation in older age. The paper first addresses the issues of identification and assessment, using an ecological framework to identify the risk factors for social isolation at four levels: individual, relationship, community, and societal. It then reviews different types of interventions to reduce or prevent social isolation in later life, including one-to-one, group, service provision, technology-based, neighbourhood, and structural interventions. The paper discusses both the opportunities and the constraints associated with these different approaches. The discussion highlights future directions for research, emphasising the need for a cultural change from ‘cure’ to ‘prevention’ of social isolation across the life-course, and the importance of acknowledging greater diversity within the ageing population.

Aging & Mental Health, 2012

Objectives: A limited amount of information is available on how older adults cope with loneliness. Two ways of coping are distinguished here, i.e., active coping by improving relationships and regulative coping by lowering expectations about relationships. We explore how often older adults suggest these options to their lonely peers in various situations and to what extent individual resources influence their suggestions. Method: After introducing them to four vignettes of lonely individuals, discriminating with regard to age, partner status, and health, 1187 respondents aged 62-100 from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam were asked whether this loneliness can be alleviated by using various ways of coping. Results: In general, both ways of coping were often suggested. However, regression analyses revealed that active coping was suggested less often to people who are older, in poor health, or lonely and by older adults who were employed in midlife and have high self-esteem. Regulative coping was suggested more often to people who are older and by older adults with a low educational level and with low mastery. Conclusions: Coping with loneliness by actively removing the stressor is less often seen as an option for and by the people who could benefit most from it. This underlines the difficulty of combating loneliness.

2011

Journal of Comprehensive Nursing Research and Care, 2018

Loneliness refers to living alone, social isolation, and anomie [1]. The majority of people die gradually, and the few hours before death are important. However, owing to declining health, the process of saying farewell to others begins well before the final hours, making elderly people feel socially isolated. Though elderly people naturally feel the need for interpersonal relationships, these gradually decline and their senses also become weak. It is the most painful moment for elderly people and people who are dying to find that an intimate relationship, which had taken a long time to develop, has been lost [2]. Loneliness is a growing health epidemic. We live in the most technologically connected age in the history of civilization, and yet the rates of loneliness have doubled since the 1980s. Today, over 40% of Americans report feeling lonely and research suggests that the real number may well be higher [3].

2015

The current scenario as regards to ageing people clearly shows that their numbers have increased over the last few decades worldwide and tend to be so in the coming years also. Urbanization, modernization and globalization have led to change, in the economic structure, the erosion of societal values, weakening of social values and social institutions such as the joint family. In this changing economic and social milieu, the ageing adults are experiencing absence of adequate social support which leads to loneliness. These changes are compelling many of our elderly to live alone, though it must be said that some of them have chosen to do so. Loneliness has been described as “the subjective, unwelcome feeling of lack or loss of companionship”. Loneliness can be considered as a biggest enemy of ageing population. Factors leading to loneliness are living alone, advancing age, widowhood, low levels of education or income, poor health and infrequent contact with family. There are many ways...

Aging & Mental Health, 2020

Objective: Older adults are at a high risk for loneliness, which impacts their health, well-being, and longevity. While related to social isolation, loneliness is a distinct, internally experienced, distressing feeling. The present qualitative study sought to identify characteristics of loneliness in older adults living independently within a senior housing community, which is typically designed to reduce social isolation. Method: Semi-structured qualitative interviews regarding the experience of loneliness, risk factors, and ways to combat it were conducted with 30 older adults, ages 65-92 years. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and coded using a grounded theory analytic approach based on coding, consensus, co-occurrence, and comparison. Results: Three main themes with multiple subthemes are described: (A) Risk and Protective factors for loneliness: age-associated losses, lack of social skills or abilities, and protective personality traits; (B) Experience of loneliness: Sadness and lack of meaning as well as Lack of motivation; and (C) Coping strategies to prevent or overcome loneliness: acceptance of aging, compassion, seeking companionship, and environment enables socialization. Discussion: Despite living within a communal setting designed to reduce social isolation, many older adults described feeling lonely in stark negative terms, attributing it to aging-associated losses or lack of social skills and abilities. However, interviewees also reported positive personal qualities and actions to prevent or cope with loneliness, several of which mirrored specific components of wisdom. The results support the reported inverse relationship between loneliness and wisdom and suggest a potential role for wisdom-enhancing interventions to reduce and prevent loneliness in older populations.

The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Critical Perspectives on Mental Health, 2020

Social isolation is a growing problem for the elderly. Social isolation can be either subjective or objective. Objective isolation is defined by the social connections a person has, consisting of regular interactions with friends, family members, colleagues, or acquaintances. Subjective isolation is the experience of isolation, including feelings of loneliness and can manifest regardless of quantity of social connections. After defining isolation, this chapter reviews the causes and consequences of social isolation, including physical and mental illness, suicide, and substance use. The chapter also details how technology might alleviate isolation. We provide a review of the prevalence of social isolation in elderly populations in North America, Europe, Japan, and South Africa. The chapter concludes by reviewing potential solutions for isolation (i.e., social prescribing and community engagement, youth mentorship, social media, nonhuman companionship, and resiliency).

Educational Gerontology, 2018

This article presents the results of qualitative research carried out among Polish centenarians who have not experienced loneliness. Objectives: An attempt to find factors protecting against loneliness. A total of 17 cases were included in the research. Method: A collective case study (Stake, 2009) with in-depth interview was applied to the research carried out by the authors. The results show that activity together with personal characteristics (lifelong optimism) allows the building of positive social relationships and contribute to protection against loneliness among the oldest old. Discussion and Implications: The centenarians interviewed experienced many traumatic events in their lives and still they did not know the feeling of loneliness. The cases researched were diverse with respect to social and economic status, health condition, and family status but the common aspect was their lifetime activity and their high level of optimism. The lifelong activity of the respondents allowed them to build social relationships and establish new acquaintanceships, both intra-and intergenerationally. Promoting examples of "positive long-livers" may play preventive role and contribute to the quality of life in late old age, and as societies are ageing, the results are also important for public health. Life is beautiful. All you need to do, is to go out.

International psychogeriatrics, 2018

ABSTRACTObjectives:To (i) systematically identify and review strategies employed by community dwelling lonely older people to manage their loneliness and (ii) develop a model for managing loneliness. A narrative synthesis review of English-language qualitative evidence, following Economic and Social Research Council guidance. Seven electronic databases were searched (1990-January 2017). The narrative synthesis included tabulation, thematic analysis, and conceptual model development. All co-authors assessed eligibility of final papers and reached a consensus on analytic themes. From 3,043 records, 11 studies were eligible including a total of 502 older people. Strategies employed to manage loneliness can be described by a model with two overarching dimensions, one related to the context of coping (alone or with/in reference to others), the other related to strategy type (prevention/action or acceptance/endurance of loneliness). The dynamic and subjective nature of loneliness is refle...

2015

Prevention is better than cure'. This also applies to loneliness experiences: preventing people from loneliness is better than helping them to reduce their feelings of loneliness through interventions. In this chapter, we argue the necessity of loneliness prevention strategies for handling future life events that might trigger the onset of loneliness. More particularly we opt for the coping strategy characterized as 'improving one's social convoy' by investing time and energy in the quantity and quality of relationships, in order to increase social embeddedness of younger and older adults. We use a process model of coping with loneliness that we tailor to the requirements of adults who are currently not or only mildly lonely. In using the model, we address three phases of the prevention process: (1) awareness: being aware of the risk factors of loneliness and the importance of a social convoy; (2) meeting the preconditions for setting the social embeddedness objectives: to be willing, knowing how, and able to maintain or improve one's social convoy; and (3) defining the route to build and maintain an optimal social convoy and keep the paths to reach the social embeddedness objectives.