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Variation in experience of loneliness
Published in Stephen Buetow, From Loneliness to Solitude in Person-centred Health Care, 2023
Sex differences in age at marriage and mortality consistently produce a preponderance of women caring for older, infirm men, and widows missing their husbands.93 Often living alone and painfully aware of their creeping mortality, these women recognize little prospect of finding love again or even a close male companion. Under such bleak conditions, they may question their relevance and purpose as additional challenges, like worsening health, limit their functional capacity and mobility and increase their care needs.94 At the same time, older persons have advantages in responding to social isolation.
Ageing and ageism in COVID-19 times
Published in Maria Łuszczyńska, Marvin Formosa, Ageing and COVID-19, 2021
Health risks lead to many other problems because a range of pandemic exceeds the area of medicine. It is important to underline the social context of the epidemic situation. The global recommendation for older populations includes social isolation. It involves staying at home and avoiding contact with other people for some period of time, currently estimated to be between three and four months, depending on the regulations in particular countries. Older adults in need of care are particularly dependent on family and friends. However, social isolation includes avoiding close direct contact with family members and friends if they do not live together. Older adults may also rely on the support of voluntary services and social care. They can organize the delivery of essential items, such as groceries and medications (Brooke & Jackson 2020: 2044).
The Role of Neighbourhood Social and Built Environments on Social Interactions and Community Wellbeing Through the COVID-19 Pandemic
Published in Abbas Rajabifard, Greg Foliente, Daniel Paez, COVID-19 Pandemic, Geospatial Information, and Community Resilience, 2021
As soon as the World Health Organisation (WHO) [11] announced that COVID-19 is a public health emergency of international concern, in response, many countries imposed restrictions such as social distancing, isolation and stay-at-home requirements. These types of restrictions may lead to loneliness and boredom [12]. Social isolation is opposite to social connectedness and has found to be related to psychological distress, such as anxiety [6, 13], depression, stress [6, 13] and loneliness [13]. Indeed, quarantine during the SARS outbreak in 2003 ([14], as cited in [13]) and the swine flu outbreak in 2009 ([15], as cited in [13]) was associated with increased depression and anxiety. Tull et al. [13] studied stay-at home restrictions and daily changed routines due to COVID-19 pandemic with mental health outcomes (n=500) in the United States. They concluded that the restrictions were associated with health related anxiety, financial worry and loneliness. Smith et al. [6] investigated the relationship between social isolation and mental health outcomes during COVID-19 pandemic (n=278) in the Unites States. They found statistical relationships between the two and concluded that higher psychological flexibility and ability to accept difficult experiences helped to reduce the negative effects of social isolation [6].
Measuring social isolation in older adults: A rapid review informing evidence-based research and practice
Published in Clinical Gerontologist, 2023
Olivia Gardam, Ryan J. Ferguson, Allison J. Ouimet, Virginie Cobigo
In 2021, 18.5% of the Canadian population were older adults (i.e., 65 years old and above; Statistics Canada, 2021). The population of older adults above the age of 65 is increasing and is estimated to reach 21.4% to 23.4% of the Canadian population by 2030 (Statistics Canada, 2019). Researchers suggest that older adults disproportionately experience social isolation (Röhr et al., 2021) for several reasons, including living alone or away from their family, experienced deaths of close loved ones (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, et al., 2020), and lack of accessibility in communities (Lamanna et al., 2019). The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated public health restrictions have further contributed to older adults’ experience of social isolation (Banerjee & Rai, 2020).
Evaluation of the effect of an education program using cartoons and comics on disease management in children with asthma: a randomized controlled study
Published in Journal of Asthma, 2023
Aylin Akca Sumengen, Ayse Ferda Ocakci
Asthmatic children may feel excluded when their activities are restricted due to attacks. Staying away from certain activities can push them into social isolation. This negatively affects the quality of life of children with asthma (42,63,66–70). One of the most important outcomes of our study is thus quality of life. Similar to the present study, (66), who implemented the RAP program, reported higher scores for quality of life compared to the control group in the both follow-up tests. (71) compared the RAP education program to a different sampling and a different educational method in 130 different primary schools in the USA. In the first and second follow-ups, a significant difference was determined between the two groups, favoring the RAP education. However, although the quality-of-life scores were still different when the follow-up period approached one year, the difference between the groups was reported to be smaller. Hence, they concluded that the asthma education should be repeated before one year had passed.
Integrating community participation in the transition of older adults from hospital to home: a scoping review
Published in Disability and Rehabilitation, 2022
Claire Gough, Nicky Baker, Heather Weber, Lucy K. Lewis, Christopher Barr, Anthony Maeder, Stacey George
Measures of HRQoL can be useful to determine a person’s ability to cope and may allow for earlier detection of complications that arise on returning home. The measure provides an individual’s perception of how their health is affecting their participation [45]. However, the included studies measured HRQoL infrequently, with a variety of methods and often focussed on carer burden which makes generalization of HRQoL difficult across a broader population. Sleep quality was not a focus of the included research, yet it was acknowledged that sleep issues influenced the fatigue experienced by participants following discharge [23]. Similarly, loneliness was a common theme throughout the qualitative literature, yet not the specific focus of outcome measures used. The impact social isolation can have on recovery was highlighted and should be considered by allied health professionals in their patient-centred treatment approach.