Loneliness in senior housing communities.

J Gerontol Soc Work

a The Brown School of Social Work , Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.

Published: September 2019

There are many studies on loneliness among community-dwelling older adults; however, there is limited research examining the extent and correlates of loneliness among older adults who reside in senior housing communities. This study examines the extent and correlates of loneliness in three public senior housing communities in the St. Louis area. Data for this project was collected with survey questionnaires with a total sample size of 148 respondents. Loneliness was measured using the Hughes 3-item loneliness scale. Additionally, the questionnaire contained measures on socio-demographics, health/mental health, social engagement, and social support. Missing data for the hierarchical multivariate regression models were imputed using multiple imputation methods. Results showed approximately 30.8% of the sample was not lonely, 42.7% was moderately lonely, and 26.6% was severely lonely. In the multivariate analyses, loneliness was primarily associated with depressive symptoms. Contrary to popular opinion, our study found the prevalence of loneliness was high in senior housing communities. Nevertheless, senior housing communities could be ideal locations for reducing loneliness among older adults. Interventions should focus on concomitantly addressing both an individual's loneliness and mental health.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6938254PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2018.1478352DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

senior housing
20
housing communities
20
older adults
12
loneliness
10
extent correlates
8
correlates loneliness
8
loneliness older
8
housing
5
communities
5
loneliness senior
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!