Limitations of social prescribing to help prevent isolation and loneliness

Abstract

In this study, a web-based questionnaire was sent to residents of the Kinki region in the westside of Japan (N = 1053), and a multinomial logit analysis was conducted according to their isolation and loneliness status to examine social prescriptions that would presumably contribute to the prevention of isolation and loneliness. By comparing the marginal effects of social prescriptions on those with four types of isolation and loneliness status through the discrete choice model, we discovered that social prescriptions that contribute to the prevention of isolation and loneliness differ according to individuals by isolation and loneliness status. For example, for those who are not isolated but lonely, an effective strategy would be to encourage involvement in social contribution activities in the community and form high-quality human relationships expecting to alleviate loneliness. The results also showed that residents in isolated situations tend to be indifferent to social contribution activities and social prescriptions to encourage involvement in such activities have limitations.