Interventions against Social Isolation of Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Existing Literature and Interventions
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Search
2.2. Study Selection
- The study was related to older adults above the age of 50 in some way.
- The interventions were targeted towards older adults experiencing loneliness, and a method was proposed to combat isolation.
- The studies recorded an outcome from participants in a study addressing interventions to alleviate social isolation, and outcomes were reported to analyze treatment impacts
- The articles were published in English
- The articles consisted of quasi-experimental, observational or randomized clinical trial studies.
- Community-based approach;
- Psychosocial groups/rehab;
- Friendship enrichment clubs;
- Experimental study on social isolation and interventions;
- Early retirement;
- One-on-one interventions;
- Volunteering.
2.3. Quality Assessment of Studies Included
3. Results
Intervention Authors, Year | JBI Score | Intervention Effect on Social Isolation/Loneliness Score | Overall Health/Life Satisfaction | Long Term Effectiveness | Implications |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Volunteering | |||||
[14] | 4 | Volunteer increases happiness | Volunteering increase this in men. | Religious volunteering positively impacts female happiness and male life satisfaction. | Gender may affect the effectiveness of volunteering |
[15] | 9 | N/A | Volunteering decreased cognitive issues and dementia treatment likelihood | Consistent volunteer work is an effective intervention | Intervention effective if consistent |
Group Interventions | |||||
[16] | 5 | Life satisfaction, showed insignificant increase | Insignificant increase in overall mental and life satisfaction | Network building showed insignificant increases in quality of life, health. | Insignificant differences, so network building moderate effect. |
[17] | 5 | Loneliness and isolation scores insignificantly lower than pretest. | Insignificant increases in total support satisfaction, positive affect and decreases in total support needed, and negative affect. | No significant long-term differences. | Insignificant effects in alleviating loneliness. |
[18] | 6 | Loneliness alleviated and persisted 3 months later. | Groups socially activated participants. | Experiencing things together promoted the sharing of feelings. | Group intervention is effective. |
[19] | 3 | Improvements shown in mastery, stress and loneliness | Improvements shown in stress, so overall health quality better. | Participants with highest education, significant difference from all but low level. | Community based intervention promote health and independence. |
[20] | 9 | Meetings positively impact the social support | No improvements shown | No effect on other aspects of social support/loneliness. | Helps with social support but not isolation. |
[21] | 5 | Social activation increased in the experimental group | Plasma level of testosterone, dehydroepiandosterone & estradiol increased & Hemoglobin A1C decreased. | Larger increase in the first 3 months, but still shows positive changes in 6 months. | Potentially effective program to reduce isolation but can have physiological effects. |
[22] | 6 | Significantly lower loneliness and higher number of confidants and satisfaction scores | No measures of overall health, but more confidants and satisfaction in experimental groups. | The experimental group had impacts on alleviating loneliness. | This psychosocial group intervention is successful |
[23] | 9 | Group without intervention experienced a decrease in perceived social support and an increase in perceived loneliness. | No implications on overall health. | Intervention did not improve loneliness in experimental group. | Not most effective intervention, but may increase cognitive functioning, and decrease depression |
[10] | 7 | Improvement in well being lasts at least 3 months | Improvement in health and life satisfaction | Need to study long term effects, no data to support it. | Seems beneficial intervention, but need long-term studies |
[12] | 7 | Participants gained social support | Mean subjective well-being scores higher for intervention group | Loneliness scale score decreased after the program and 6 months later | Community based programs allowing shared experiences have potential for success |
Friendship Centred Interventions | |||||
[24] | 7 | Older people value being in a community and independence to make connections. | Improved well-being, social Relations, mental/physical health | Friendship clubs address all areas, but need more research | Friendship clubs beneficial, but observational, so researcher influence |
[25] | 6 | Overall alleviates immediate loneliness, but no decline over course. | Social and emotional loneliness, declined over study course | Immediate benefit but no loneliness decline long term. | Overall, help alleviate loneliness, no direct decline. |
Person Centred/One-on-One Intervention | |||||
[13] | 7 | Associated with feeling of control related to loneliness – older adults with more control may be able to cope with social isolation. | Life satisfaction is related to the psychosocial needs of residents | May have long term effects if given control and choice over their schedule. | Fulfilling preferences are an appropriate intervention for social isolation. |
[26] | 7 | Some improvement in mental health scores, statistically insignificant. | Some form of improvement in mental health. | No statistical difference between intervention and control groups. | Peer telephone dyads were not an effective intervention |
[11] | 6 | Participants receiving a friendly visitor showed a statistically significant difference in satisfaction | Clinical improvements occurred in the level of health. | Extensive research needed to verify program effectiveness. | Seems effective intervention but need long term research. |
[27] | 8 | Significantly better health after visits only in the subgroup with poor health at baseline. | Benefits can be gained from home visits if health problems already present | Need long term research; effective for those with pre-existing conditions. | Only beneficial to those with pre-existing problems, can’t generalize. |
Health Promoting/Social Support Interventions | |||||
[28] | 9 | Positive effect of health-promoting interventions on older adults’ lifestyle. | Significant difference in total average scores of lifestyle between intervention and control groups. | Improvement in lifestyle conditions predicted to be long term but need to investigate further. | Beneficial intervention to improve lifestyle of older adults |
[29] | 6 | Significantly less loneliness and more social support and well-being at 6 months, but no statistically significant difference at 12 months | Increase in computer comfort, efficacy and proficiency. | No statistically significant difference at 12 months, so long term effects minimal. | PRISM is a good tool for social connectivity but may only be a short term intervention. |
4. Discussion
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Manjunath, J.; Manoj, N.; Alchalabi, T. Interventions against Social Isolation of Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Existing Literature and Interventions. Geriatrics 2021, 6, 82. https://doi.org/10.3390/geriatrics6030082
Manjunath J, Manoj N, Alchalabi T. Interventions against Social Isolation of Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Existing Literature and Interventions. Geriatrics. 2021; 6(3):82. https://doi.org/10.3390/geriatrics6030082
Chicago/Turabian StyleManjunath, Jaya, Nandita Manoj, and Tania Alchalabi. 2021. "Interventions against Social Isolation of Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Existing Literature and Interventions" Geriatrics 6, no. 3: 82. https://doi.org/10.3390/geriatrics6030082