Prevalence of loneliness over ten years among the oldest old.

Aims: This study examined the prevalence of loneliness among the oldest old within a 10-year period and studied the influence of various sociodemographic, social and health characteristics on loneliness.

Methods: The study used population-based data from the Umeå85+/GErontological Regional DAtabase-study (GERDA) for the years 2000-2002, 2005-2007 and 2010-2012 including 85-year-old, 90-year-old and ⩾95-year-old participants. A final sample of 304 participants in 2000-2002, 329 participants in 2005-2007 and 401 participants in 2010-2012 was included in the analyses.

Insiders and incomers: how lay public health workers' knowledge might improve public health practice.

Since 2005, health trainers and other lay public health workers (LPHWs) have been increasingly active in the UK. Although elsewhere in the world LPHWs are expected to come from the communities within which they work and know that their knowledge is valued, neither is the case for LPHWs in the UK. This study sought to discover the lay knowledge of health trainers and other LPHWs, aiming to ascertain how this knowledge might more effectively be utilised within UK public health services.

Promoting independence, health and well-being for older people: a feasibility study of computer-aided health and social risk appraisal system in primary care.

Background: With population ageing, research is needed into new low-cost, scalable methods of effective promotion of health and wellbeing for older people. We aimed to assess feasibility, reach and costs of implementing a new tailored computer-aided health and social risk appraisal system in primary care.

Methods: Design: Feasibility study.

What do older people experiencing loneliness think about primary care or community based interventions to reduce loneliness? A qualitative study in England.

Loneliness in later life is a common problem with poor health outcomes. However, interventions to prevent or ameliorate loneliness have a weak evidence base. The views of older people experiencing or at risk of loneliness in the community are important in identifying features of potential support, but have been little studied.

Visually Impaired OLder people's Exercise programme for falls prevenTion (VIOLET): a feasibility study protocol.

Introduction: In the UK, 1 in 5 people aged 75 and over live with sight loss. Visually impaired older people (VIOP) have an above average incidence of falls and 1.3-1.

The association between social capital and loneliness in different age groups: a population-based study in Western Finland.

Background: Previous studies of loneliness have largely focused on establishing risk factors in specific age groups such as in later life or in young people. Researchers have paid less attention to the link between social capital and loneliness across different age groups. The aim of this study was to examine the association between social capital and experienced loneliness in different age groups in a Finnish setting.

Support networks for Chinese older immigrants accessing English health and social care services: the concept of Bridge People.

As Chinese immigrants in the United Kingdom age, they experience an increasing need to access health and care services. It has, however, been reported that older Chinese immigrants have difficulties in accessing these services. This study explored the experiences of this population in using health and care services and the strategies that they adopted to address their difficulties.

Only available to a selected few? Is it feasible to rely on a volunteer workforce for complex intervention delivery?

This paper recounts the process of undertaking a randomised controlled trial which was designed to examine the effectiveness of an intervention for socially isolated older people aged 75 years and over. It describes the reasons for early cessation of the study and raises the implications of this outcome for policy, practice and research. The intervention under investigation was designed to alleviate loneliness and foster companionship.

Research priorities for public mental health in Europe: recommendations of the ROAMER project.

Background: The ROAdmap for MEntal health Research in Europe project aimed to create an integrated European roadmap for mental health research. Leading mental health research experts across Europe have formulated consensus-based recommendations for future research within the public mental health field.

Methods: Experts were invited to compile and discuss research priorities in a series of topic-based scientific workshops.

Organisational space for partnership and sustainability: lessons from the implementation of the National Dementia Strategy for England.

National policy initiatives are faced with challenges in their partnership development and sustainability. The National Dementia Strategy for England recommended Dementia Adviser (DA) and Peer Support Network (PSN) services and 40 demonstration sites were established. In this paper, we report on the national evaluation of these demonstration sites, with specific reference to aspects of organisational development.

'Putting Life in Years' (PLINY) telephone friendship groups research study: pilot randomised controlled trial.

Background: Loneliness in older people is associated with poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We undertook a parallel-group randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of telephone befriending for the maintenance of HRQoL in older people. An internal pilot tested the feasibility of the trial and intervention.

"We're all thrown in the same boat … ": A qualitative analysis of peer support in dementia care.

Peer support is well established in fields such as the disability movement and mental health and is increasingly recognised as one way of enabling support by and for people with a diagnosis of dementia and their immediate carers. It was central to the implementation of the National Dementia Strategy (NDS) for England, when 40 demonstration sites were established. This mixed-methods study included in-depth qualitative interviews with people living with dementia (n = 101) and staff/stakeholders (n = 82) at 8 of the 40 sites.

Social capital and loneliness among the very old living at home and in institutional settings: a comparative study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between aspects of social capital and loneliness among the very old living at home and in institutional settings.

Method: Half of those aged 85 years, and all 90- and 95-year-olds and older in urban and rural municipalities in northern Sweden and western Finland were invited to participate in a cross-sectional population-based study in 2005-2007. A sample of 483 participants who completed the study was included in the analyses.

A comparison of older workers' and retired older people's social capital and sense of mastery.

Aim: To assess if older people with higher levels of social capital experience higher levels of sense of mastery than those with lower levels of social capital and to assess whether this association is stronger for retired older people than for older workers.

Methods: The data originates from a general population mental health survey conducted among 2610 older people (50 years of age or older) in Finland in 2011. The response rate was 57.

Social capital as a resource for mental well-being in older people: a systematic review.

Social capital has previously been reviewed in relation to mental health. However, none have focused specifically on positive aspects of mental health such as mental well-being. This review aimed to explore the relationship between social capital and mental well-being in older people.

Improving quality of life in ageing populations: what can volunteering do?

The year 2011 was declared the 'European Year of Volunteering' to recognise the contribution volunteers make to society. Such cross-national events reflect the high profile of volunteering and political imperatives to promote it. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive review of current knowledge (articles published between 2005 and 2011) regarding the role of volunteering in improving older people's quality of life (QoL) and to identify areas requiring further research.

The use of telephone befriending in low level support for socially isolated older people--an evaluation.

There is increasing policy recognition that the alleviation of social isolation and loneliness in older people should be prioritised. Recently, technology, such as telephone networks and the Internet, has received attention in supporting isolated and lonely older people. Despite lack of evidence, telephone befriending has been considered an effective low-level method to decrease loneliness among older people.

Physiotherapists' accounts of their clients in geriatric inpatient rehabilitation.

This article aims to describe how physiotherapists working with frail older people talk about their clients. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with physiotherapists (n = 11) were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed using discourse analysis. Two accounts were identified: (i) older adults as recipients of a treatment intervention at the rehabilitation centre, with the dimensions 'a focus on physical impairments' and 'a focus on social needs' and (ii) older adults as partners in an exercise intervention to support their everyday living at home.

Construction of group exercise sessions in geriatric inpatient rehabilitation.

There is little knowledge about the ways geriatric physiotherapy is being carried out in practice and about the situational construction of formal policies for promoting physical activity. This article examines how professional physiotherapists and frail community-dwelling older adults as their clients use talk and action to construct a group exercise session in an inpatient rehabilitation setting in Finland. The analysis of 7 group exercise sessions with a total of 52 clients and 9 professional physiotherapists revealed 3 different practitioner approaches, which served different functions in older adults' empowerment and lifestyle activity change.