Loneliness among older adults in Europe: time to integrate health and social care.

IF 3.2 3区 医学 Q1 MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL
Livio Garattini, Alessandro Nobili, Pier Mannuccio Mannucci
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Abstract

Loneliness is a major concern for public health in contemporary societies. Older adults are particularly vulnerable to loneliness because of their reduced social connections following life changes, such as retirement. Loneliness is often investigated and discussed together with social isolation. While social isolation implies an actual lack of social connections, loneliness implies a perceived deficit of social relations regardless of the real amount of social contacts. However, since living alone may lead to loneliness, individuals can experience both loneliness and social isolation together. Loneliness is not an inevitable consequence of aging and can be tackled with various interventions that can be classified into individual- and group-based formats and can be conducted either in-person or online. In terms of contents, interventions for lonely older adults vary widely, from psychological therapies to contacts with nature and pet company. Although many lonely patients are seen in primary care settings, they are often hospitalized through emergency departments. Social prescriptions, which are more and more perceived as an important add-on to clinical treatments, are non-medical interventions designed to help patients to improve their health by linking traditional clinical practice with social activities and support services within the community. Health- and social-integrated care in the community has become a major priority among older adults to ensure their continuity and quality of care. A European model for welfare systems should be framed by a full integration of care across health and social services. Investing in integrated community care should improve the broad efficiency of the European welfare systems.

欧洲老年人的孤独:是时候整合健康和社会关怀了。
孤独是当代社会公共卫生的一个主要问题。老年人特别容易感到孤独,因为他们在退休等生活变化后社会联系减少。孤独常常与社会孤立一起被调查和讨论。社会孤立意味着实际缺乏社会联系,而孤独意味着无论实际社会联系多少,都感觉缺乏社会关系。然而,由于独居可能会导致孤独,个人可能会同时经历孤独和社会孤立。孤独不是老龄化的必然结果,可以通过各种干预措施来解决,这些干预措施可以分为基于个人和群体的形式,可以亲自或在线进行。就内容而言,对孤独老年人的干预措施各不相同,从心理治疗到与自然接触和宠物公司。虽然许多孤独的病人是在初级保健机构看到的,但他们往往是通过急诊室住院的。社会处方越来越被认为是临床治疗的重要补充,它是非医疗干预措施,旨在通过将传统临床实践与社区内的社会活动和支助服务联系起来,帮助患者改善健康状况。社区的保健和社会综合护理已成为老年人的一项主要优先事项,以确保其护理的连续性和质量。欧洲福利制度的模式应该以全面整合卫生和社会服务的护理为框架。投资于综合社区护理应能提高欧洲福利体系的整体效率。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Internal and Emergency Medicine
Internal and Emergency Medicine 医学-医学:内科
CiteScore
7.20
自引率
4.30%
发文量
258
审稿时长
6-12 weeks
期刊介绍: Internal and Emergency Medicine (IEM) is an independent, international, English-language, peer-reviewed journal designed for internists and emergency physicians. IEM publishes a variety of manuscript types including Original investigations, Review articles, Letters to the Editor, Editorials and Commentaries. Occasionally IEM accepts unsolicited Reviews, Commentaries or Editorials. The journal is divided into three sections, i.e., Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Clinical Evidence and Health Technology Assessment, with three separate editorial boards. In the Internal Medicine section, invited Case records and Physical examinations, devoted to underlining the role of a clinical approach in selected clinical cases, are also published. The Emergency Medicine section will include a Morbidity and Mortality Report and an Airway Forum concerning the management of difficult airway problems. As far as Critical Care is becoming an integral part of Emergency Medicine, a new sub-section will report the literature that concerns the interface not only for the care of the critical patient in the Emergency Department, but also in the Intensive Care Unit. Finally, in the Clinical Evidence and Health Technology Assessment section brief discussions of topics of evidence-based medicine (Cochrane’s corner) and Research updates are published. IEM encourages letters of rebuttal and criticism of published articles. Topics of interest include all subjects that relate to the science and practice of Internal and Emergency Medicine.
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