Staff Thesis 37 views
Transient nature of loneliness and social isolation in later life
Deborah Morgan 
Swansea University Author:
Deborah Morgan
Abstract
Loneliness and social isolation can affect people at any stage of the life course although changes associated with ageing can make older people particularly vulnerable. Key transition points including bereavement, poor health and functional limitations and retirement have all been shown to increase...
| Published: |
|
|---|---|
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67648 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Abstract: |
Loneliness and social isolation can affect people at any stage of the life course although changes associated with ageing can make older people particularly vulnerable. Key transition points including bereavement, poor health and functional limitations and retirement have all been shown to increase the risk of an older person becoming lonely or socially isolated. Estimates of the extent of loneliness and social isolation in later life vary. Prevalence of loneliness is estimated to be around 5-16 per cent, while between 4-27 per cent of older people are deemed to be socially isolated. However although a great deal is known about the range of risk factors that increase vulnerability to loneliness and social isolation in later life, very little research has explored stability and change in levels of loneliness and social isolation. This PhD aimed to address this under researched aspect of loneliness.The thesis adopted a mixed method design to explore stability and change in loneliness and social isolation. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to determine which psychosocial risk factors predicted inclusion in one of four categories of loneliness and social isolation. While narrative interviews were used to explore stability and change in levels of loneliness from the perspective of older people themselves.The thesis contributed empirically and conceptually to the existing body of research on loneliness and social isolation in later life. Using Bury’s (1982) concept of biographical disruption the impact of loneliness and social isolation was explored. The thesis was able to demonstrate that loneliness and social isolation are dynamic experiences that fluctuate over time. Longer term stability and change in loneliness and social isolation was shown to be dependent on a number of contextual, personal and social factors. |
|---|