Loneliness and social isolation among older adults in a community exercise program: a qualitative study.
Aging Ment Health
; 23(6): 736-742, 2019 06.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29543517
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
Loneliness and social isolation (L&SI) are associated with physical and cognitive decline in older adults. Walk 'n' Talk for your Life (WTL) is a community-based program of socialization, health education, falls prevention exercise and walking for community-dwelling older adults. This qualitative study was done to gain further insight into the experience and impacts of the WTL on seniors' L&SI.METHODS:
One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixteen participants who had completed the WTL . Interview questions focused on eliciting a better understanding of how the WTL impacted participants' feelings of L&SI. Content analysis was used to classify the qualitative data .RESULTS:
This qualitative evaluation helped to obtain a richer understanding of WTL participants' reasons for loneliness and the benefits of the program on participants' experience of L&SI. Participants felt WTL helped motivate them to socialize and reduced their feelings of loneliness by providing a sense of 'belonging' which appeared to be mediated by the group exercise/walking component of the program. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS:
This study provides insight into participants' experiences of L&SI. Further research in a broader population of older adults is mandated to determine the efficacy of community exercise programs in reducing L&SI.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Isolamento Social
/
Caminhada
/
Solidão
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
Limite:
Aged
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Aged80
/
Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article