Peer Companionship for Mental Health of Older Adults in Primary Care: A Pragmatic, Nonblinded, Parallel-Group, Randomized Controlled Trial

Conwell, Yeates; A, Van Orden Kimberly; Stone, Deborah M.; McIntosh, Wendy LiKamWa; Messing, Susan; Rowe, Jody; Podgorski, Carol; Kaukeinen, Kimberly; Tu, Xin

doi:10.1016/j.jagp.2020.05.021

Cited by 28 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…In addition to reaching older adults, these technologies have the potential to reach veterans of all ages who are lonely, but who do not access services. Peer support 58,59 and social prescribing 60 may also help increase access to care and engagement in veterans experiencing loneliness, though more research is needed to evaluate such interventions. Given that many VA mental health providers are well trained in cognitive-behavioral treatments and promising evidence supporting the use of such treatments that focus on maladaptive social cognitions to reduce loneliness, 61,62 such interventions may be readily implemented in VA healthcare and other settings that serve veterans.…”

Section: Article In Pressmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral Epidemic of Loneliness in Older U.S. Military Veterans: Results From the 2019-2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study

Straus¹,

Norman²,

Tripp³

et al. 2022

The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

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Section: Article In Pressmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral Epidemic of Loneliness in Older U.S. Military Veterans: Results From the 2019-2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study

Straus¹,

Norman²,

Tripp³

et al. 2022

The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

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“… 36 60 65 In addition, interventions relying on existing networks consisting of primary care services, community resources and volunteers lowered costs and favoured sustainability. 56 61 74 Other studies based on referral pathways highlighted that having closer access to link workers or programme coordinators (ie, working within primary care) increased their visibility among healthcare professionals and influenced the adoption of the intervention. 31 34 36 …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primary care-based interventions addressing social isolation and loneliness in older people: a scoping review

2022

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ObjectivesPrimary care is well positioned to identify and address loneliness and social isolation in older adults, given its gatekeeper function in many healthcare systems. We aimed to identify and characterise loneliness and social isolation interventions and detect factors influencing implementation in primary care.DesignScoping review using the five-step Arksey and O’Malley Framework.Data sourcesMEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, COCHRANE databases and grey literature were searched from inception to June 2021.Eligibility criteriaEmpirical studies in English and Spanish focusing on interventions addressing social isolation and loneliness in older adults involving primary care services or professionals.Data extraction and synthesisWe extracted data on loneliness and social isolation identification strategies and the professionals involved, networks and characteristics of the interventions and barriers to and facilitators of implementation. We conducted a thematic content analysis to integrate the information extracted.Results32 documents were included in the review. Only seven articles (22%) reported primary care professionals screening of older adults’ loneliness or social isolation, mainly through questionnaires. Several interventions showed networks between primary care, health and non-healthcare sectors, with a dominance of referral pathways (n=17). Two-thirds of reports did not provide clear theoretical frameworks, and one-third described lengths under 6 months. Workload, lack of interest and ageing-related barriers affected implementation outcomes. In contrast, well-defined pathways, collaborative designs, long-lasting and accessible interventions acted as facilitators.ConclusionsThere is an apparent lack of consistency in strategies to identify lonely and socially isolated older adults. This might lead to conflicts between intervention content and participant needs. We also identified a predominance of schemes linking primary care and non-healthcare sectors. However, although professionals and participants reported the need for long-lasting interventions to create meaningful social networks, durable interventions were scarce. Sustainability should be a core outcome when implementing loneliness and social isolation interventions in primary care.

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“…With respect to mental health, involvement with a peer companion and a companion animal improved the patient’s quality of life and had a positive impact on symptoms of depression, anxiety, cognitive impairment, and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. 25 , 26 It has been proposed for reducing the adverse health outcomes wrought by social isolation and loneliness by deploying robots to function as social companions and friends to socially isolated elderly people in the pandemic period. 27 The other modes include social media, online-based video/audio conversation, voice-controlled intelligent personal assistants, avatar models, and other virtual agents.…”

Section: Companionship Issues In the Aging Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Companionship and Sexual Issues in the Aging Population

Ramesh

Issac

Mukku

et al. 2021

Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine

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Loneliness and social isolation are significant public health crises in older adults. The issues about companionship have many psychosocial and cultural dimensions, which is further compounded by the current COVID-19 pandemic. In modern-day India, there is a significant increase in the number of older adults left to live alone because of sociocultural changes in our society. Companionship in late life is known to promote the quality of life and decrease the mental health morbidity. There is an increasing role of pets as companions to the elderly. Novel technologies such as artificial intelligence in the form of robots are being explored to support the elderly. Sexuality is another complex issue related to older adults that is often ignored. The sexuality and sexual functioning in older adults largely depend on physiological, psychological, and sociocultural factors. The principles of ageism have influenced sexuality in older adults. Sociocultural issues and the aging-related pathophysiological changes can contribute to an increased risk for legal issues related to sexuality in this population. There is a need for more systematic research into the multifaceted concept of companionship and sexuality in the older adult population. This review article addresses these two distinct subjects separately.

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Peer Companionship for Mental Health of Older Adults in Primary Care: A Pragmatic, Nonblinded, Parallel-Group, Randomized Controlled Trial

Cited by 28 publications

References 36 publications

Behavioral Epidemic of Loneliness in Older U.S. Military Veterans: Results From the 2019-2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study

Behavioral Epidemic of Loneliness in Older U.S. Military Veterans: Results From the 2019-2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study

Primary care-based interventions addressing social isolation and loneliness in older people: a scoping review

Companionship and Sexual Issues in the Aging Population

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