Abstrakt

TRENDING SHIFT OF SOCIAL SUPPORT AND LONELINESS IN ELDERLY

Azmat Jahan, Naseem Ahmad, Shubham Gupta , Kanika Jindal, Harpreet Bhatia

Background and Purpose: Recent literature has reported that loneliness and social support can have tremendous impact on the health of elderly. Loneliness is a risk factor for numerous physical and psychological health outcomes. The current review investigates the factors leading to loneliness in older adults and effects on their coping. Methods: A literature search was conducted using PubMed, Springer Link and JSTOR databases. Relevant search items were targeted for the study. Reference lists of various articles were also included for exploring additional literature. Results and Conclusion: Our findings suggest that various factors including living conditions, social support, neglect, abuse influence older adults drastically. Loneliness is one of the major contributor of adverse health outcomes among elderly. Future studies are required to examine which interventions can be devised and implemented to reduce loneliness among older adults