Bonding personal social capital as an ingredient for positive aging and mental well-being. A study among a sample of Dutch elderly (original) (raw)
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Understanding the role of social capital for mental wellbeing among older adults
2012
"Previous research applying quantifiable measurements has established significant positive associations between social capital and mental health in older adults. This study aimed to obtain a deeper understanding of the causal mechanisms of social capital affecting mental wellbeing among older people. The study is based on two independent qualitative data materials collected through two focus group interviews and an open-ended question included in a Finnish population-based postal survey. The findings indicate that informal social contacts such as family members and lifelong relationships between friends impact the experienced mental wellbeing among older adults due to shared life events, social support, mutual appreciation and trust, as well as a sense of belonging through common social activities. Hence, this study challenges Putnam’s idea of social capital as a collective concept focusing on formal contacts and the benefits on a collective level. In addition, the findings highlight the obstacles specific to older adults in maintaining social networks and participation, which should be considered in order to promote mental health in later life."
BMC public health, 2016
Previous studies of loneliness have largely focused on establishing risk factors in specific age groups such as in later life or in young people. Researchers have paid less attention to the link between social capital and loneliness across different age groups. The aim of this study was to examine the association between social capital and experienced loneliness in different age groups in a Finnish setting. The data originates from a population-based cross-sectional survey conducted among 4618 people aged 15-80 in Western Finland in 2011. The response rate was 46.2 %. The association between social capital, measured by frequency of social contacts, participation in organisational activities, trust and sense of belonging to the neighbourhood and loneliness was tested by logistic regression analyses stratified by four age groups. Frequent loneliness (defined as experienced often or sometimes) was higher among younger people (39.5 %) compared to older people (27.3 %). Low levels of tru...
Promoting social capital to alleviate loneliness and improve health among older people in Spain.
Loneliness is especially frequent among older people in Southern Europe. Furthermore, promoting social capital to tackle loneliness and its health effects is an understudied intervention strategy. Therefore, a complex intervention was piloted in Spain in a pre-post study with a 2-year follow-up. Its aims were to explore the feasibility of the intervention and its short- and long-term effects. It was conducted in one mixed rural-urban and two urban areas of diverse socioeconomic levels from 2011 to 2012. The intervention framework was based on social capital theory applying a behaviour change model and care co-ordination. The intervention comprised: (i) a co-ordinated action aimed at building a network between primary healthcare centres and community assets in the neighbourhood and (ii) a group-based programme, which promoted social capital among lonely older people, especially social support and participation. Older people active in senior centres volunteered as gatekeepers. The main outcome domain was loneliness. Secondary outcome domains were participation, social support, self-perceived health, quality of life, depressive symptoms and use of health resources. Pre-post changes were assessed with t-test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test and McNemar's test. Differences between the three time points were assessed with a one-way ANOVA with repeated measures. Social workers and nurses were successfully involved as group leaders, 10 volunteers took part and 38 participants were included. After the intervention, loneliness decreased while social participation and support significantly increased. Furthermore, the number of visits to nurses increased. Exactly 65.8% of the participants built social contacts within the group and 47.4% became engaged in new activities. Two years later, social effects were maintained and depressive symptoms had decreased. Exactly 44.7% of the participants continued to be in contact with at least one person from the group and 39.5% continued participating. The intervention contributes a novel and feasible social capital-based approach for alleviating loneliness among older adults while prompting meaningful changes in their lives.
2011
Aims: To determine the associations between the cognitive aspects of social capital and mental health status in older adults. Methods: Data on older people (65 years of age or older, n=1,102) were retrieved from a general population mental health survey conducted in Finland in 2008. The response rate was 61%. The associations between self-reported depression (measured by the Composite International Diagnostic Interview Short Form, CIDI-SF) or psychological distress (measured by the General Health Questionnaire, GHQ-12) and perceived social support, sense of belonging, and trust were tested by logistic regression analyses. Results: For the cognitive social capital indicators, difficult access to help from neighbours showed a significant association with depression. Furthermore, not having people to count on, experiencing a lack of concern from other people, and feeling mistrust towards other people were all significantly associated with psychological distress. Conclusions: Links between mental health and cognitive social capital indicate that social support and trust may be important factors to consider when developing interventions to promote mental health and prevent mental disorders among older adults.
Aging & Mental Health, 2021
Objectives: Loneliness is seen as an important problem, contributing to serious health problems. As a baseline measurement for the evaluation of a community project aimed at reducing loneli-ness in Rotterdam, loneliness was measured, as well as potential correlates. This article describes models of social and emotional loneliness among older adults. Methods: This study was conducted among 3,821 randomly selected community dwelling citizens of 65 years and older. Loneliness was measured by using the Jong-Gierveld loneliness question-naire/scale. As potential correlates demographic, health and psychological and social variables were included. Data were subjected to multiple hierarchically regression analysis. Results: Emotional loneliness was reported by 60% and social loneliness by 47% of the sample. Women were more emotionally lonely than men , while men reported more social loneliness than women. Emotional social support and quality of life were strongest in predicting emotional loneli-ness and social capital in the neighbourhood, companionship and instrumental support were strongest predictors for social loneliness. Demographic variables predicted variability in emo-tional loneliness. Conclusions: The strength of the correlates differed between the two dimensions of loneliness. In the design of interventions to prevent and reduce loneliness among older adults, strategies should be developed aimed at the specific dimensions of loneliness.
Structural and cognitive social capital and depression among older adults in two Nordic regions
2012
"Objective: To study the association between structural and cognitive aspects of social capital and depression among older adults in two Nordic regions. Method: Data were retrieved from a postal survey targeting older adults aged 65, 70, 75 and 80 years (N=6 838, response rate=64%) residing in the Västerbotten region (Sweden), and the Österbotten region (Finland) in 2010. The associations between structural (measured by frequency of social contact with friends and neighbours) and cognitive (measured by experienced trust in friends and neighbours) aspects of social capital and depression (measured by Geriatric Depression Scale, GDS-4) were tested by logistic regression analyses. Results: Both low structural and cognitive social capital as defined in the study showed statistically significant associations with depression in older adults. Only experienced trust in neighbours failed to show significant association with depression. In addition, being single and being 80 years of age indicated a higher risk of depression as defined by GDS-4. Conclusion: The findings underline the connection between adequate levels of both structural and cognitive individual social capital and mental health in later life. They also suggest that the connection differs depending on various network types; the cognitive aspect of relationships between friends was connected to depression, while the connection was not found for neighbours. Further, the oldest age group in the sample (80 years of age) is pointed out as a population especially vulnerable for depression that should not be overlooked in mental health promotion and depression prevention."
Measuring aspects of social capital in a gerontological perspective
2011
Within the last 10 years, there has been a growing interest in the importance of social capital and older people. The aims of the study are to advance measurements of aspects of social capital based on bonding, bridging and linking that can be used to study the impact of the local community on community-dwelling older populations and to study the distribution of these three measurements of social capital in 34 municipalities. Data are from a Danish prospective cohort study on preventive home visits among 4,034 old people 75? in 34 municipalities in Denmark. The measurements of aspects of social capital at community level are based on theory of bonding, bridging and linking social capital. It has been possible to analyse variations in the three measurements of social capital in the 34 municipalities and to characterize different municipalities according to high versus low social capital. There are interesting patterns in distribution of the three measurements. The two extreme groups of municipalities (high and low social capital) differ with regard to demography, social and structural conditions in the municipalities. We believe that the proposed measures of social capital will be relevant in future studies of social capital and health in older populations, since they are theoretically based and cover different aspects of social capital related to older people and their local community.
Psychology & health, 2014
Objective: The role of social relationships in determining well-being may be particularly salient in ageing populations. There is only limited longitudinal research examining the relationship between different dimensions of social relationships and change in well-being over time. The present analysis explores the association between isolation, loneliness and two measures of subjective well-being over six years using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Design: Measures of social relationships were obtained at baseline and associations with well-being over the following six years were analysed using mixed models. Main outcome measures: Hedonic and evaluative well-being assessed every two years over the six-year period. Results: Levels of well-being showed a U-shaped relationship with time. At baseline, higher isolation and loneliness were associated with lower levels of hedonic and evaluative well-being. Individuals with high levels of isolation and loneliness initiall...
Relationship Between Social Function and Social Well-Being in Older Adults
Iranian Rehabilitation Journal
Objectives: Health refers to the condition of perfect physical, mental and social well-being. The appropriate social well-being is the opposite of loneliness and depression. Social wellbeing is a psychosocial concept that is affected by many factors. This study determined the relationship between social function and social well-being in older adults.
Research Paper: Relationship Between Social Function and Social Well-Being in Older Adults
Objectives: Health refers to the condition of perfect physical, mental and social well-being. The appropriate social well-being is the opposite of loneliness and depression. Social wellbeing is a psychosocial concept that is affected by many factors. This study determined the relationship between social function and social well-being in older adults. Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical study that was conducted on 550 older adults in Tehran. The participants were selected by multistage cluster sampling. Data was collected using Social Well-being Scale and Social Adaptation Self-evaluation Scale. Data were analyzed using Pearson coefficient and linear regression analysis in SPSS v. 22. Results: The mean age of participants was 66.10±6.68 years. The female participants accounted for 41.1% of subjects. There were significant correlations between all aspects of social function (quality of activities and the quality of relationships) and social well-being dimensions (P<0.01). The quality of activities had significant positive effects on all aspects of social well-being (P<0.01), and the quality of relationships also had significant effects on different aspects of social well-being, except on social coherence (P=n.s). Discussion: The findings showed that the social function affects social well-being. So individuals with higher social functioning also have higher social well-being and mental health.