Faculty Mentor
Dr. Rie Kobayashi
Presentation Type
Poster
Primary Discipline of Presentation
Social Work
Abstract
Identifying risk factors for social isolation is essential to determine the potential solutions to improve older adults’ overall well-being. Therefore, implementing an intervention (e.g., befriending services) that supports the development of social skills, increases access to social interactions and social support, and helps people change unhelpful thoughts about social situations through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, is an evidence-based psychotherapy that is successful in assisting people to change unhelpful social cognitions; all these components can contribute in increasing the likelihood that it will lessen social isolation and loneliness within this demographic. Until recently, there is no reliable information on the effectiveness of comparable interventions in reducing social isolation. Nonetheless, “the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, the gold standard and most widely used measure of loneliness with older adults before the intervention,” can help record progress through pre-post scores to determine the intervention’s effectiveness (Suicide Prevention Resource Center, 2022).
Recommended Citation
Suicide Prevention Resource Center. (2022). Reducing-Loneliness-and-Social-Isolation-Among-Older-Adults-Final.pdf. https://sprc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Reducing-Loneliness-and-Social-Isolation-Among-Older-Adults-Final.pdf
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Included in
Improving elder’s overall well-being.
Identifying risk factors for social isolation is essential to determine the potential solutions to improve older adults’ overall well-being. Therefore, implementing an intervention (e.g., befriending services) that supports the development of social skills, increases access to social interactions and social support, and helps people change unhelpful thoughts about social situations through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, is an evidence-based psychotherapy that is successful in assisting people to change unhelpful social cognitions; all these components can contribute in increasing the likelihood that it will lessen social isolation and loneliness within this demographic. Until recently, there is no reliable information on the effectiveness of comparable interventions in reducing social isolation. Nonetheless, “the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, the gold standard and most widely used measure of loneliness with older adults before the intervention,” can help record progress through pre-post scores to determine the intervention’s effectiveness (Suicide Prevention Resource Center, 2022).
