Decreasing Loneliness in Older Adults

The purposes of this study are: (1) decrease loneliness and social isolation and increase social competence and social integration of older adults experiencing loneliness; (2) examine an intervention process grounded in a theoretical model that was developed in a previous study. The intervention process is tailored to the participants' barriers and abilities, and includes up to 10 personal meetings with an activities counselor and several group meetings.

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Key information

Conditions

Loneliness Behavior Behavioral Symptoms Depression Social Behavior Social Isolation Social Skills

Age range

65 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Tel-Aviv University

Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

age 65 or over
residing in the Tel Aviv region

Exclusion criteria

having known mental illness including schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, and dementia

Treatment and study plan

I-SOCIAL intervention

Behavioral

The I-SOCIAL intervention is based on findings from Cohen-Mansfield and Parpura-Gill (2007), which highlighted the important role of barriers in contributing to loneliness in older persons. These barriers include a perceived lack of opportunities for social contacts, low social self-efficacy, and health and mobility difficulties. The intervention includes: (1) identifying the barriers for the specific person; (2) up to 10 meetings with an activities counselor. The meetings include discussions concerning options for social contacts and use of techniques and resources to tackle the barriers; and (3) group meetings of participants and the activities counselors in order to provide a concrete social event and as a venue to discuss barriers and ways to address them.

Primary outcomes

Change in Loneliness

Time frame: Participants will be assessed before and after the intervention, an expected average of 6 months

Loneliness will be assessed via several measures: (a) Frequency of loneliness will be measured via one item ("How often would you say you feel lonely?"; (Mullins, Woodland, & Putnam, 1990) on a 6-point scale from "never" (1) to "several times an hour" (6); (b) The UCLA Loneliness Scale- 8 items (ULS-8; (Hays & DiMatteo, 1987). Each item is rated on a 5-point scale from "not at all" (1) to "to a great extent" (5), with a higher score indicating more loneliness. Based on experience from another study (Cohen-Mansfield et al., 2013) one item ("I am unhappy being so withdrawn") was replaced with two items ("I feel physically distant from other people"; "I feel emotionally distant from other people).

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Tel Aviv University

Other

Collaborators

Ministry for Senior Citizens, Israel

Registry information

Official study title

Increasing Social Competence and Social Integration of Older Adults Experiencing Loneliness

Acronym: I-SOCIAL

Important dates

Study start: 2013
Primary completion: 2016
Study completion: 2018
First posted: Apr 30, 2013
Registry last updated: Oct 31, 2019

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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Completed