Adjustment to Widowhood and Loneliness Among Older Men: The Influence of Military Service

Carr, Dawn; Ureña, Stephanie; Taylor, Miles G.

doi:10.1093/geront/gnx110

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Since there is a stigma associated with being lonely and patients may be averse to asking for help in this arena, specific screening questions should be developed. It has been noted that men have a harder time acknowledging that they are lonely and hence asking for help 38 . Risks associated with increased social engagement will vary depending on whether the interaction is in person or virtual during this COVID pandemic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synergy of pandemics-social isolation is associated with worsened Parkinson severity and quality of life

Subramanian

Farahnik

Mischley

2020

npj Parkinsons Dis.

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Social isolation and its deleterious effects on health increases with age in the general population. People with Parkinson’s Disease (PWP) are no exception. Social isolation is a risk factor for worsened health outcomes and increased mortality. Symptoms such as depression and sleep dysfunction are adversely affected by loneliness. There is a paucity of research on social isolation in Parkinson’s disease (PD), which is all the more critical now in the setting of social distancing due to COVID-19. The goal of this study was to survey individuals with PD to evaluate whether social isolation is associated with PD symptom severity and quality of life. Only individuals reporting a diagnosis of idiopathic PD were included in this analysis. The primary outcome measures were the Patient-Reported Outcomes in PD (PRO-PD) and questions from PROMIS Global related to social health. PRO-PD scores increased as social performance and social satisfaction scores diminished. Individuals who reported being lonely experienced a 55% greater symptom severity than those who were not lonely (P < 0.01). Individuals who documented having a lot of friends had 21% fewer symptoms than those with few or no friends (P < 0.01). Social isolation was associated with greater patient-reported PD severity and lower quality of life, although it is unclear whether this is the cause and/or a consequence of the disease. In essence, the Parkinson pandemic and the pandemic of social isolation have been further compounded by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The results emphasize the need to keep PWP socially connected and prevent loneliness in this time of social distancing. Proactive use of virtual modalities for support groups and social prescribing should be explored.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synergy of pandemics-social isolation is associated with worsened Parkinson severity and quality of life

Subramanian

Farahnik

Mischley

2020

npj Parkinsons Dis.

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“…Eleven studies included veterans of all ages [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29], two of which were specifically aimed at understanding age-related differences between veterans in the sample [21,23]. Five studies specifically focused on older veterans with age-related inclusive criteria ranging from 51+ years to 65+ years [30][31][32][33][34] and one study did not report details of age [35].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Three studies focused only on male veterans [21,25,31], one study looked only at sexual minority veterans [23] and one study considered only veterans with HIV/AIDS [25]. Twelve studies were carried out in the USA [19,[21][22][23][24][25]29,[31][32][33][34][35], one study was carried out in the UK [30] and four studies were carried out in Israel [20,[26][27][28].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two studies used a mixed-methods approach [25,32], three utilized a qualitative approach [28][29][30] and 12 used a quantitative approach [19][20][21][22][23][24]26,27,31,[33][34][35]. Within each broad methodological approach, various specific methods were employed: one study undertook a scoping review and focus group method [30], two studies analysed call logs and call assessment checklists [21,24], four studies used semi-structured interviews [25,28,29,32] and 12 studies utilized questionnaires [19,20,22,23,[25][26][27][31][32][33][34][35]. Of the studies using questionnaires, nine studies specifically measured loneliness or social isolation, using a version of the UCLA loneliness scale self-report scale [20,22,26,27,33,35], the leave behind questionnaire [31], the loneliness scale [19] and the Lubben social network scale …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, the Weiss [41] model is referenced distinctly separating loneliness and social isolation by defining social isolation as 'the absence of an engaging social network' or 'emotional-isolation' which stems from lack of close attachment [26][27][28]. Ten studies considered loneliness only [19][20][21][22]24,26,27,31,33,35]; two studies considered social isolation only [23,34] and five studies considered both loneliness and social isolation [25,[28][29][30]32]. However, in considering the problematic use of interchangeable terms, one study used the idiom 'loneliness/ isolation' as one concept throughout the paper [29] and did not define these concepts.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Loneliness and social isolation of military veterans: systematic narrative review

Wilson

Hill

Kiernan

2018

Occupational Medicine

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Background Loneliness and social isolation are being increasingly recognized as influencing both physical and mental health. There is limited research carried out with military veterans and, to date, there is no review of existing evidence. Aims To synthesize and examine the evidence exploring aspects of social isolation and loneliness of military veterans, using a systematic narrative review strategy. Methods A database search was carried out utilizing relevant search criterion. Seven databases were searched for publications with no date restrictions. Articles were included if they involved veterans and either social isolation or loneliness. The initial search returned 484 papers, after exclusions, removal of duplications, and a reference/citation search, 17 papers remained and were included in this review. Results The retrieved papers examined four areas of loneliness and social isolation: prevalence of loneliness in the veteran population, experiences related to military service as impacting loneliness or social isolation, the relationship between mental health and loneliness or social isolation, and interventions to combat loneliness and social isolation. Differences between the experiences of younger and older veterans were also highlighted. Conclusions It is evident that military veterans present unique experiences of loneliness and social isolation, especially older veterans. This requires specific attention outside of campaigns targeted at the nonmilitary population.

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A Systematic Review of Treatment Options for Grieving Older Adults

Roberts

Walsh

Saracino

et al. 2019

Curr Treat Options Psych

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Adjustment to Widowhood and Loneliness Among Older Men: The Influence of Military Service

Abstract: Although exposure to death early in life is traumatic, our research suggests that such adversity within the specific context of the military may help enhance resilience during the transition to widowhood.

Cited by 17 publications

References 30 publications

Synergy of pandemics-social isolation is associated with worsened Parkinson severity and quality of life

Synergy of pandemics-social isolation is associated with worsened Parkinson severity and quality of life

Loneliness and social isolation of military veterans: systematic narrative review

A Systematic Review of Treatment Options for Grieving Older Adults

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