Dataset Information

'There's something about admitting that you are lonely' - prevalence, impact and solutions to loneliness in terminal illness: An explanatory sequential multi-methods study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Loneliness is a prevalent societal issue and can impact on a person's physical and mental health. It is unclear how loneliness impacts on end of life experiences or how such feelings can be alleviated.

Aim

To explore the perceived prevalence, impact and possible solutions to loneliness among people who are terminally ill and their carers in Northern Ireland through the lens of health and social care professionals.

Design

An explanatory multi-method study.

Setting/participants

An online survey (n = 68, response rate 30%) followed by three online focus groups with palliative and end of life care health and social care professionals (n = 14). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.

Results

Loneliness was perceived by professionals as highly prevalent for people with a terminal illness (92.6%) and their carers (86.8%). Loneliness was considered a taboo subject and impacts on symptoms including pain and breathlessness and overall wellbeing at end of life. Social support was viewed as central towards alleviating feelings of loneliness and promoting connectedness at end of life. Four themes were identified: (1) the stigma of loneliness, (2) COVID-19: The loneliness pandemic (3) impact of loneliness across physical and mental health domains and (4) the power of social networks.

Conclusion

There is a need for greater investment for social support initiatives to tackle experiences of loneliness at end of life. These services must be co-produced with people impacted by terminal illness to ensure they meet the needs of this population.

SUBMITTER: Hanna JR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9749015 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

'There's something about admitting that you are lonely' - prevalence, impact and solutions to loneliness in terminal illness: An explanatory sequential multi-methods study.

Hanna Jeffrey R JR McConnell Tracey T Harrison Craig C Patynowska Katarzyna A KA Finucane Anne M AM Hudson Briony B Paradine Sharon S McCullagh Angela A Reid Joanne J

Palliative medicine 20220908 10

<h4>Background</h4>Loneliness is a prevalent societal issue and can impact on a person's physical and mental health. It is unclear how loneliness impacts on end of life experiences or how such feelings can be alleviated.<h4>Aim</h4>To explore the perceived prevalence, impact and possible solutions to loneliness among people who are terminally ill and their carers in Northern Ireland through the lens of health and social care professionals.<h4>Design</h4>An explanatory multi-method study.<h4>Sett ...[more]

PMID: 36081273

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND:Loneliness in later life is largely presented as a problem of the individual focusing upon antecedents such as demographic or health factors. Research examining the role of the broader living environments is much rarer. We examined the relationship between loneliness and three dimensions of the lived environment: geographical region, deprivation, and area classification (urban or rural). METHODS:Our sample consisted of 4663 core members (44% males) aged 50+ (wave 7 mean age 72.8, S.D. = 7.1) present both in waves 3 (2006) and 7 (2014) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Loneliness was measured using two approaches, individual and area-based, and both waves included these questions. Individual-based (self-reported) loneliness was assessed using the three item University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) scale (ranging from 3 = not lonely to 9 = lonely) with a score of 6+ defining loneliness. We also used a novel question which asked participants to evaluate how often they felt lonely in their area of residence (area-based; ranging from 1 = often to 7 = never, using cut off 4+ to define loneliness). The lived environment was classified in three different ways: the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), Government Office Regions (GOR), and area classification (urban or rural). Covariates with established relationship with loneliness including demographic factors, social engagement and health, were included in the analyses. RESULTS:In wave 7, the prevalence of individual-based loneliness was 18% and area-based was 25%. There was limited congruence between measures: 68% participants reported no individual- or area-based loneliness and 9% reported loneliness for both measures. After adjusting for individual co-variates only one significant relationship was observed between loneliness and area -based characteristics. A significant association was observed between area-based loneliness and deprivation score, with higher levels of loneliness in more deprived areas (OR = 1.4 for highest quintile of deprivation). CONCLUSIONS:Our results indicate that loneliness in older adults is higher in the most deprived areas independent of individual-level factors. In order to develop appropriate interventions further research is required to investigate how area-level factors combine with individual-level loneliness vulnerability measures to generate increased levels of loneliness in deprived areas.

Dataset Information

'There's something about admitting that you are lonely' - prevalence, impact and solutions to loneliness in terminal illness: An explanatory sequential multi-methods study.

Background

Aim

Design

Setting/participants

Results

Conclusion

Publications

'There's something about admitting that you are lonely' - prevalence, impact and solutions to loneliness in terminal illness: An explanatory sequential multi-methods study.

Similar Datasets

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