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Cited by 362Health disparities and outcomesAging, Health, and DisabilityAging and Gerontology Research

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 75 of the 78 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Interventions to address social connectedness and loneliness for older adults: a scoping review

Open access
O’Rourke, Hannah M., Collins, Laura, Sidani, Souraya·2018·BMC Geriatrics
DOI 10.1186/s12877-018-0897-xPMC PMC6139173

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Older adults are at risk for loneliness, and interventions to promote social connectedness are needed to directly address this problem. The nature of interventions aimed to affect the distinct, subjective concepts of loneliness/social connectedness has not been clearly described. The purpose of this review was to map the literature on interventions and strategies to affect loneliness/social connectedness for older adults. METHODS: A comprehensive scoping review was conducted. Six electronic databases were searched from inception in July 2015, resulting in 5530 unique records. Standardized inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied, resulting in a set of 44 studies (reported in 54 articles) for further analysis. Data were extracted to describe the interventions and strategies, and the context of the included studies. Analytic techniques included calculating frequencies, manifest content analysis and meta-summary. RESULTS: Interventions were described or evaluated in 39 studies, and five studies described strategies to affect loneliness/social connectedness of older adults or their caregivers in a qualitative descriptive study. The studies were often conducted in the United States (38.6%) among community dwelling (54.5%), cognitively intact (31.8%), and female-majority (86.4%) samples. Few focused on non-white participants (4.5%). Strategies described most often were engaging in purposeful activity and maintaining contact with one's social network. Of nine intervention types identified, the most frequently described were One-to-One Personal Contact and Group Activity. Authors held divergent views of why the same type of intervention might impact social connectedness, but social contact was the most frequently conceptualized influencing factor targeted, both within and across intervention types. CONCLUSIONS: Research to test the divergent theories of why interventions work is needed to advance understanding of intervention mechanisms. Innovative conceptualizations of intervention targets are needed, such as purposeful activity, that move beyond the current focus on the objective social network as a way to promote social connectedness for older adults.

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Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. Pan S. Online communities and older adults: the potential of social networks formed in the online community in enhancing social support, social connectedness and subjective well-being among Chinese older adults. Los Angelas: University of Southern California; 2011.
  2. Zelenka A. Modeling social participation as predictive of life satisfaction and social connectedness: scale or index? Denver: University of Denver; 2011.
  3. Marshall G. Predictors associated with late-life depressive symptoms among older black Americans. Washington: University of Washington; 2011.
  4. Cattan M, Ingold K. Implementing change: the alleviation of social isolation and loneliness among older people in Leeds. J Ment Heal Promot. 2003;2:12–9.
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  6. Schwindenhammer TM. Videoconferencing intervention for depressive symptoms. Normal: Illinois State University; 2014.
  7. Passmore T, Lindenmeier D, Tapps T, Gibson H. Impact of participation in community-based recreation program on reported loneliness and feelings of usefulness of individuals diagnoses with early stage Alzheimer’s disease. Am J Recreat Ther. 2007;6:27–39.

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Metadata

Authors
O’Rourke, H. M., Collins, L., & Sidani, S.
Affiliations
  • University of Alberta (CA)
  • Toronto Metropolitan University (CA)
Corresponding author
O’Rourke, Hannah M.
ORCID
Venue
BMC Geriatrics
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2018-09-15
Volume
18
Issue
1
Pages
214-214
ISSN
1471-2318 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s12877-018-0897-x
PMC
PMC6139173
OpenAlex
W2891167182
Cited by
362
References
78
Citations by year
2026: 33 · 2025: 54 · 2024: 67 · 2023: 54 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 65 · 2020: 33 · 2019: 11
FWCI
4.53
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • BMC Geriatrics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Trainee funding)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Aging, Health, and Disability
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
Keywords
loneliness, social connectedness, older adults, intervention, social contact, group activities, purposeful activity, social networks, caregivers, intervention mechanisms
MeSH terms
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Loneliness, Social Behavior, Social Support, Databases, Factual, Caregivers, Qualitative Research

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