COVID-19 experiences of social isolation and loneliness among older adults in Africa: a scoping review

Abstract

ObjectiveSocial isolation and loneliness (SI/L) are considered critical public health issues. The primary objective of this scoping review is to document the experience of SI/L among older adults in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic, given research gaps in this area. We identified the reasons for SI/L, the effects of SI/L, SI/L coping strategies, and research and policy gaps in SI/L experiences among older adults in Africa during COVID-19.MethodsSix databases (PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, APA PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Ageline) were used to identify studies reporting the experiences of SI/L among older adults in Africa during the COVID-19 lockdown. We adopted the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR).ResultsSocial isolation and loneliness due to COVID-19 in Africa affected older adults' mental, communal, spiritual, financial, and physical health. The use of technology was vital, as was the role of social networks within the family, community, religious groups, and government. Methodological challenges include the risk of selective survival bias, sampling biases, and limited inductive value due to context. Also, lack of large-scale mixed methods longitudinal studies to capture the experiences of older adults during COVID-19. There were essential policy gaps for African mental health support services, media programs, and community care service integration targeting older adults in the era of the COVID-19 lockdown.DiscussionLike in other countries, COVID-19 lockdown policies and the lockdown restrictions primarily caused the experience of SI/L among older adults in Africa. In African countries, they resulted in a severance of older adults from the cultural structure of care for older adults and their familial support systems. Weak government intervention, personal situations, challenges regarding technology, and detachment from daily activities, disproportionately affected older adults in Africa.

COVID-19: Experiences of Social Workers Supporting Older Adults With Dementia in Nigeria

“… 11 , 23 Prior studies have reported the adverse impact of COVID-19 pandemic on health, social connection, economic stability and overall wellbeing of older adults in Nigeria. 24 - 28 Major gaps in these studies are that they lack comprehensive interdisciplinary studies that integrate health, social connection, economic stability, and overall well-being of older individuals. Existing research tends to compartmentalize these aspects, hindering a holistic understanding of the multifaceted challenges faced by older adults during the pandemic.…”

What kind of a problem is loneliness? Representations of connectedness and participation from a study of telepresence technologies in the UK

“…Technology-mediated communication compared unfavourably with the “gold standard” of in-person presence in Burholt et al's study of family contacts with older people; telephone, text and video contacts were found to be neither functionally nor emotionally equivalent to embodied, physical co-presence ( 60 , p.1209). Technology is reported as being unable to replace face-to-face social interaction ( 61 ), and maintaining therapeutic relationships via digital interfaces can be difficult ( 53 ). Technology designers have responded to the challenges of producing more satisfactory experiences of technology-mediated communication – as shown in increased provision of video-calling during the pandemic compared to audio-only telephone contact – and through embodied technologies such as the therapeutic social robot, Paro, and HUG, a therapeutic calming device for people with dementia ( 62 ).…”

“…More prosaically, but of critical importance, technology fails to address loneliness and social isolation when it does not work due to poor connectivity or it is not available when people do not own devices or have the skills, knowledge or dexterity to use technology, as highlighted by Adedeji et al's scoping review of technology and social isolation and loneliness amongst older people in African countries during the pandemic. Ineffectiveness in that context was associated, in part, with poor infrastructure and the digital divide (lack of internet access, devices, and disposition towards technology ( 61 ). Usability, acceptability and availability are necessary for technologies to be adopted to address loneliness, as is technical competence, with additional difficulties apparent for older adults as well as people digitally “excluded” ( 64 ).…”