Older adults’ perspectives regarding peer-to-peer support programs and maintaining independence

Abstract

Peer to peer (P2P) support has been suggested as one community program that may promote aging in place. We sought to understand challenges older adults have maintaining their independence and to identify how P2P support facilitates independence. We completed 17 semi-structured interviews with older adults receiving P2P support in 3 cities in the United States. Study team members coded data using deductive and inductive conventional content analysis. Participants identified declining abilities, difficulties with mobility, and increasing cost of living as challenges to independence. P2P support facilitated independence and provided them with a new friend. The qualitative findings indicate that maintaining independence as an older adult in the United States has many challenges. P2P programs have an important role in helping older adults stay in their home by supporting mobility and promoting social engagement.

Peer-to-Peer Support and Changes in Health and Well-being in Older Adults Over Time

“…In a qualitative study conducted with a subset of participants in the P2P group, participants perceived P2P support services as highly valuable in helping them overcome the challenges of aging in place, particularly by improving mobility throughout the community and decreasing social isolation. 53 Participants spoke of the value of their peer and how their peer “saved my life” 53 by providing friendship and a means to get out of the house and interact with others. Additionally, previous studies suggest that P2P programs improve health and well-being in older adults 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 and could even help older adults remain in their homes.…”

“…Previous research has found that P2P programs specifically and befriending interventions more broadly improve social integration and personal relationships. 16 , 57 Given anecdotes from the research coordinators who routinely heard from participants how much they enjoyed talking to them, the findings from the qualitative study, 53 and the fact that loneliness in both SCS and P2P groups remained relatively stable over the 12-month research study, we think it is likely that many at-risk older adults experienced benefits from periodic social check-ins.…”

Evaluation of Peer-to-Peer Support and Health Care Utilization Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults

“…Qualitative data we collected at the end of our study suggest that community-based P2P support programs promote aging in place and are of value to older adults, their families, and the peer volunteers who provide that support. 32 We need more research on these types of inexpensive, pragmatic interventions, including how peer support advances aging in place in rural and more diverse aging communities and among older adults who would likely benefit the most, including those aged 80 years and older or who are more socially isolated. We also suggest that investigators explore what is already happening in communities to promote aging in place.…”

“…Data from our qualitative interview study with the older adults who received P2P support suggest that the service and relationships they developed through the program were critical to their wellness, suggesting that our design or sample size were not robust enough to effectively measure the impact of P2P support. 32 It is possible that the association of P2P support with hospitalizations may have occurred because the peers, in general, helped the older adults they supported to discuss what to do when they were not feeling well, to call their physicians, and get guidance that led to hospitalization.…”

Design, implementation and evaluation of informal home care support intervention program for lonely older adults in the community: Protocol for a feasibility study

“…Communication and having relationships with other older adults and friends through online social networks might increase social cohesion and promote social networks. In the context of such social networks, older people can provide each other with emotional, instrumental, communicative and informational support [ 30 ]. Stevens et al found that telephone calls and home visits by peer volunteers, who had similar characteristics, could improve physical activity in older adults [ 31 ].…”