Increasing Social Competence and Social Integration of Older Adults Experiencing Loneliness
Overview
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Loneliness
- Sponsor
- Tel Aviv University
- Enrollment
- 74
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Change in Loneliness
- Status
- Completed
- Last Updated
- 6 years ago
Overview
Brief Summary
The purposes of this study are: (1) decrease loneliness and social isolation and increase social competence and social integration of older adults experiencing loneliness; (2) examine an intervention process grounded in a theoretical model that was developed in a previous study. The intervention process is tailored to the participants' barriers and abilities, and includes up to 10 personal meetings with an activities counselor and several group meetings.
Investigators
Professor Jiska Cohen-Mansfield
Professor, Department of Health Promotion, Director- The Minerva Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of the End of Life
Tel Aviv University
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •age 65 or over
- •residing in the Tel Aviv region
Exclusion Criteria
- •having known mental illness including schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, and dementia
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Change in Loneliness
Time Frame: Participants will be assessed before and after the intervention, an expected average of 6 months
Loneliness will be assessed via several measures: (a) Frequency of loneliness will be measured via one item ("How often would you say you feel lonely?"; (Mullins, Woodland, \& Putnam, 1990) on a 6-point scale from "never" (1) to "several times an hour" (6); (b) The UCLA Loneliness Scale- 8 items (ULS-8; (Hays \& DiMatteo, 1987). Each item is rated on a 5-point scale from "not at all" (1) to "to a great extent" (5), with a higher score indicating more loneliness. Based on experience from another study (Cohen-Mansfield et al., 2013) one item ("I am unhappy being so withdrawn") was replaced with two items ("I feel physically distant from other people"; "I feel emotionally distant from other people).