The Impact of Psychosocial Interventions on Older Adults in the Community Experiencing Social Isolation: An Integrative Review.
Ann-Marie Keane, Ann-Marie Bright, Luca Greenan and 1 others
PMID 41332020WHAT IT FOUND
Community psychosocial programmes helped isolated older adults feel more connected and less alone.
Programmes that included peer groups, befriending or one-to-one support showed benefits, but evidence came from small, varied studies.
Key findings
01A multicomponent intervention combining home-based sessions, reminiscence therapy, goal setting and communication skills training improved DUFFS social isolation scores from 25.00 to 27.94 (p = 0.005).
02A peer-based intervention combining home visits and telephone calls for emotional support, problem-solving support and community resource sharing reduced loneliness by 1.17 units and barriers to social participation by 0.57 units.
03Group-based programmes were more effective for social connection, while individual interventions were stronger for anxiety and depression.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Only seven studies were included, with 464 participants overall, so the evidence base is small. The studies differed widely in intervention type, duration, design and outcome measures, so direct comparisons were difficult. Most studies reported short-term outcomes, and long-term follow-up was limited, so sustained benefit is unclear. Four qualitative studies did not report the researchers' cultural or theoretical positions or reflect on the influence of the researcher. The two randomised trials had risk-of-bias concerns, mainly around outcome measurement. Sample sizes were small, from 22 to 121 participants, and ethnicity was often not reported or mostly Caucasian. One included study recruited a participant aged 58, although the review focused on older adults.
Declared interests
The authors report no funding and no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that any single element, such as befriending or group activities, is proven to work. Several effective studies used bundled interventions, and the review included only a small number of studies with different designs and outcome measures.