Interventions to improve social network in older people with sensory impairment: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Sensory impairment significantly reduces speech discrimination and perception ability, presenting a challenge to effective communication. It can lead to social withdrawal and a reduced social network which can lead to cognitive impairment, seriously affecting the quality of life of older people. However, it is unclear which intervention components are effective to improving social network in older people with sensory impairment. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review was to summarize interventions designed to improve social network in older people with sensory impairment. METHODS: We searched seven databases from inception to December 1, 2023. Eligible studies included randomized clinical trials (RCT) and quasi-experimental studies of interventions for older people with sensory impairment aimed at improving social networks. Two reviewers searched databases, extracted data, and assessed the quality of the included studies independently. RESULTS: Nine studies including five RCTs and four quasi-experimental studies were selected, enrolling 721 older people with sensory impairment. Methodological quality of the studies was modest. Eight studies demonstrated a positive impact of the interventions used in older people with sensory impairment. The detailed effective intervention components may include communication strategies, resources for older people and their significant others, exercise or tech-back of communication, sensory device fitting, and use and maintenance of sensory devices. CONCLUSION: There are few interventions available for improving social network in older people with sensory impairment. Most interventions mainly focus on communication education and care, and sensory device fitting and education. To improve the social network in older people with sensory impairment, it is necessary to develop more effective, multidisciplinary collaborative effective interventions and conduct more high-quality original studies.

Social participation in older people with hearing impairment in Chinese community: A latent profile analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Hearing impairment may lead to increased communication difficulties for older people, making their social participation less optimistic. However, there is little research on the social participation of older people with hearing impairment, especially based on the characteristics of their social participation. This study aimed to identify different social participation profiles in older people with hearing impairment and to explore sociodemographic characteristics, disease-related characteristics and psychosocial factors with different social participation profiles. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 300 older people with hearing impairment using the sociodemographic questionnaire, the Impact on Participation and Autonomy Questionnaire, the Lubben Social Network Scale-6, Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey and Geriatric Depression Scale-15 from May to August 2023 in a community of Beijing, China. Latent profile analysis was used to analyse the latent profiles of social participation in elderly with hearing impairment. Multiple logistic regression was used to explore the predictors of different profiles. RESULTS: The social participation of older people with hearing impairment in the community can be classified into three potential profiles: Profile 1 - high social participation group (76.05 %), Profile 2 - moderate social participation group (17.34 %), Profile 3 - low social participation group (6.61 %). Age, types of chronic diseases, self-reported health, severity of hearing impairment, social network, social support and depression were predictors of different profiles. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses should pay attention to the characteristics, depression, social network and support of older people with different hearing impairment to improve social participation in different profiles. IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: This was the first study exploring latent profiles of social participation in older people with hearing impairment. Insights from this study are useful for gerontological nursing to distinguish different profiles and further identify the characteristics of different profiles in older people with hearing impairment by characterizing the level of social participation in the community and better implement interventions according to profiles.