Exploration of Loneliness Among Black Older Adults

Abstract

Background: Loneliness is a public and social issue affecting older adults, but in varying degrees across ethnic groups. Black older adults (BOAs) are more prone to loneliness because they have unique and accumulated factors (e.g., low socioeconomic status, high number of chronic conditions) that predispose them to loneliness. This review aims to describe the extent and the nature of research activities on loneliness and identify the contributory factors to loneliness among BOAs as presented in the global literature.
 Methods/Design: We will follow the five steps of Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) framework to search multiple databases from inception till June 2021. MeSH terms and keywords, e.g., “older adults,” “blacks,” and “loneliness,” will be adopted for several databases, including CINHAL, Ageline, PsychINFO, Cochrane Central Registers of Control Trials, PubMed, Web of Science, Social Science Abstract. Multiple reviewers will independently screen citations (title/abstract and full text) and extract data using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. “Best fit” framework synthesis using the six social provisions of Weiss’ framework as a priori themes will guide the data analysis. 
 Discussion: This review will inform policy development around contributory factors for loneliness among BOAs and the most relevant issues on loneliness related to BOAs.

Understanding Social and Emotional Loneliness among Black Older Adults: A Scoping Review

“…The protocol has been published elsewhere ( Ojembe et al, 2021 ) and was registered at ( https://doi.org/10.7565/SSP.V4.5748 ). Summarily, this scoping review was guided by the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) and was reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-Scr) ( Tricco et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Comprehensive search strategy, study selection, and data extraction processes have been published in the protocol paper ( Ojembe et al, 2021 ). The search strategy was developed in consultation with a social science librarian.…”

“…For quantitative findings, we extracted the mean (SD) scores and prevalence (%) of loneliness, the odds ratio, beta and the 95% confidence interval highlighting the association between loneliness and other variables (e.g., age, gender) reported in the included studies. For a more extensive description of the method, see the protocol paper— Ojembe et al (2021 ), (p. 5). The six raters independently pilot tested the data extraction sheet, and any disagreements were resolved by discussions during research meetings.…”

“…The protocol has been published elsewhere (Ojembe et al, 2021) and was registered at (https://doi.org/10.7565/SSP.V4. 5748).…”

Social Networks and Support to Older People in Refugee Situation in Western Countries

“…A pilot testing will be done by two or more independent authors at each stage using at least 100 articles. Kappa will be adopted to calculate the Inter-rater agreement and if the Kappa score is ≥ 80, interpreted as an almost perfect strength of agreement for abstract/title and full-text screening (Landis & Koch, 1977;Ojemba et al, 2021), the articles will be shared equally among the reviewer authors. In event of the Kappa score being ≤ 0.81, all reviewer authors will independently conduct title/abstract and full-text screening.…”