Loneliness in Older People and COVID-19: Applying the Social Identity Approach to Digital Intervention Design

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is increasing older people's existing challenges in engaging with their physical and social worlds, and is thereby likely to worsen their loneliness. Digital technology has been offered as a potential aid for social connectedness during social distancing/isolation. However, many popular digital communication tools have not been designed to specifically address the needs of older adults impacted by social isolation. We propose that the social identity approach to health and the Social Identity Model of Identity Change (SIMIC) could be a foundation for digital interventions to address loneliness. While SIMIC applies to maintaining wellbeing during life transitions, it has not previously been rigorously applied to digital interventions. There are known challenges to integrating psychological theory to the design of digital technology, such as efficacy, user-autonomy, and engagement. The interdisciplinary field of Human Computer Interaction has a history of drawing on models originating from psychology to improve the design of digital technology and to design technologies in an appropriate manner. Drawing on key lessons from this literature, we consolidate design guidelines that could assist in applying SIMIC to digital interventions for loneliness in older people affected by the pandemic.

The use of digital technologies by people with mild-to-moderate dementia during the COVID-19 pandemic: A positive technology perspective

“…These statements suggest that participants felt a sense of community among other people with dementia; as P10 stated: ‘We used to be united against dementia, now we’re united against COVID-19’. Here, we are reminded of the value of group membership, which can provide people with the social and psychological resources to counter challenges of everyday life (Haslam et al, 2009) and may also be beneficial in digital settings (Stuart et al, 2022). We interpret participants’ statements as evidence for digital technologies engendering a collective sense of identity, which enhanced well-being and provided a protective buffer against the isolation that accompanied lockdown measures.…”

Construct validity of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) in patients with COVID-19 and its demographic and medical correlates

“…This result contradicted previous findings that indicated the association of aging with an intrinsic reduction in susceptibility to psychological distress ( Hoeymans et al, 2004 ). However, losing social contacts in the elderly (e.g., the death of family members), becoming prohibited from engagement in common social interactions due to social distancing order, and receiving limited access to social support and services may increase their susceptibility to mental health problems ( Stuart et al, 2022 ).…”