Title

Social isolation and loneliness among older adults in the context of COVID-19: a global challenge

Authors

Bei Wu

Author Affiliations

NYU Aging Incubator and Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing

Publication Information

BMC, 2020.

Date of Publication

2020

Series/Report no.

GLOBAL HEALTH RESEARCH AND POLICY, Vol. 5, no. 1

Key words

COVID-19, Social isolation, Aging, Public health messaging

Abstract

 We are experiencing a historical moment with an unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The outbreak of COVID-19 will have a long-term and profound impact on older adults’ health and well-being. Social isolation and loneliness are likely to be one of the most affected health outcomes. Social isolation and loneliness are major risk factors that have been linked with poor physical and mental health status. This paper discusses several approaches that may address the issues of social isolation and loneliness. These approaches include promoting social connection as public health messaging, mobilizing the resources from family members, community-based networks and resources, developing innovative technology-based interventions to improve social connections, and engaging the health care system to begin the process of developing methods to identify social isolation and loneliness in health care settings.

주요 내용

 COVID-19는 노인의 건강과 웰빙에 장기적이고 중대한 영향을 미칠 것이다. 사회적 고립과 외로움은 가장 영향을 받는 건강 요소 결과 중 하나일 가능성이 높다. 사회적 고립과 외로움은 열악한 신체적, 정신적 건강 상태와 관련된 주요 위험 요소이다. 이 글은 사회적 고립과 외로움의 문제를 해결할 수 있는 몇 가지 접근 방식을 논의한다.

ISSN

2397-0642

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-020-00154-3