Page 29 - Petelin, Ana, ur. 2024. Zdravje delovno aktivnih in starejših odraslih / Health of Working-Age and Older Adults. Zbornik povzetkov z recenzijo ▪︎ Book of Abstracts. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem/University of Primorska Press

The prevalence of loneliness among users of nursing home residents

Jasmina Irena Barać, Ester Benko, Melita Peršolja
University of Primorska Faculty of Health Sciences, Izola, Slovenia

Introduction: Loneliness represents a negative experience of a discrepancy between
the desired and achieved personal network of relationships. It needs to be under-
stood as a subjective phenomenon, as it is not always dependent on a lack of direct
contact with people - a person can feel lonely in company and not feel lonely when
alone. It manifests as one of the most common emotional distresses faced also by
nursing home residents and is associated with various negative health outcomes and
diminished quality of life. The purpose of the study was to describe the frequency and
degree of loneliness and to understand the factors associated with loneliness among-
nursing home residents.
Methods: In a quantitative empirical study, we used the De Jong Gierveld 11-item lone-
liness scale and obtained data through oral surveys in 2024 from 107 out of 337 resi-
dents of two nursing homes in the Coastal-Karst region.
Results: Descriptive statistical analysis results show that 43.9% (n = 47) of respond-
ents are moderately lonely, while 10.3% (n = 11) are severely lonely. Of this emotional
loneliness affects 29.9% (n = 32), and almost a quarter (22.4%, n = 24) experience so-
cial loneliness. Correlation analyses indicate that those who rate their health as poorer
are more frequently lonely (p = 0.006). Other characteristics of respondents, such as
gender, age, marital status, level of education, and length of stay in the nursing home,
are not associated with the occurrence of loneliness.
Discussion and conclusions: Loneliness leads to worsened health status and poor health
outcomes, so it needs to be recognized and addressed promptly. A nurse can identify
loneliness in an individual through a combination of observation, conversation, and the
use of standardized loneliness assessment tools. Various activities for preventing and
reducing loneliness among nursing home residents are found in the literature, among
which social and physical activities are the most common.
Keywords: older adults, nursing home, loneliness, nursing duševno zdravje delovno aktivnih in starejših odraslih | mental health of working-age and older adults

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