"Not Alone in Loneliness" : A Qualitative Evaluation of a Program Promoting Social Capital among Lonely Older People in Primary Health Care
Coll-Planas, Laura (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Fundació Salut i Envelliment)
Rodríguez Arjona, Dolors (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Fundació Salut i Envelliment)
Pons-Vigués, Mariona (Universitat de Girona. Departament d'Infermeria)
Nyqvist, Fredrica (Åbo Akademi University. Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies)
Puig, Teresa (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Monteserín Nadal, Rosa (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau)

Date:	2021
Abstract:	The weekly group-based program "Paths: from loneliness to participation" was conducted face-to-face over 15 sessions by nurses, social workers and volunteers in primary care in Catalonia (Spain) to alleviate loneliness among older people by promoting peer support and participation in community assets. We aimed at exploring participants' experiences of loneliness and participation prior to the program and its perceived benefits. The qualitative design was descriptive-interpretative. Data were collected through three focus groups and 41 interviews applying a semis-tructured topic guide involving 26 older participants, six professionals and nine volunteers. Partic-ipant-observation of all sessions involved the 38 older people who started the program. A thematic content analysis was applied. Older persons with diverse profiles of loneliness and participation explained different degrees of decrease in loneliness, an increase in participation in local community assets, companionship, peer support and friendship, and an empowerment process. Successful cases reported improvements in mental wellbeing and recovering the sense that life was worth liv-ing. Loneliness persisted among some widowed participants and vulnerabilities hampered some benefits. Participants, professionals and volunteers reported different degrees of success in older people to alleviate loneliness by enhancing social relationships and activities through complex processes interrelated with health and socioeconomic factors.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Ageing ; Qualitative research ; Primary health care ; Loneliness ; Social capital
Published in:	International journal of environmental research and public health, Vol. 18 Núm. 11 (may 2021) , p. 5580, ISSN 1660-4601

DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18115580
PMID: 34071146

19 p, 353.3 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Fundació Salut i Envelliment UAB
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Institut de Recerca Sant Pau
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles